Tears of the Surviors
by FlickeringDeath
Summary: This story is about the next generation,it's starts at year one and goes on from there. It is about pain, sacrfice, tears, and trying to make things right even when you only fail. Rated M for later in the story.
1. Chapter 1

1The sun rose high into the clear blue-purple sky as the nighttime mist floated away, promising more heat like the day before.

A boy of about eleven with a mop of messy, quite unmanageable black hair and shocking green eyes sat on the edge of his bed.

Alex Potter looked again at the calendar, today was his eleventh birthday.

The Potters, though pretty wealthy, and famous, or at least Harry was, owned no big fancy mansion with a indoor pool and Jacuzzi.

Instead, their home was just a normal house with three floors, and an attic.

But what they did have, as almost every wizarding family did, was a quidditch field.

Alex loved that field like he did his own family, they all did, him Harry, his dad, his mom, Kathy -a half and half crossed with a veela- his twin, Charolette, or Charlie as her nickname had became by the age of 2, as Charolette was often cumbersome to say, and his thirteen year old brother, Adam.

They all loved Quidditch, but the only problem was that Alex's mom couldn't ride a broom worth crap (seriously).

But it wouldn't be fair in Quidditch anyways, the other team would have one more than the other, making it unfair to the latter.

He knew his whole family was up by now, as it was 8 o'clock, and movement in his twin sisters room assured him of that.

"G'morning" he said as they both left their rooms simultaneously.

"'Morning" she mumbled.

" D'you know what today is?" he asked his half asleep sister.

"Friday" she said starting down the stairs

"Friday... the 27th?" She said again.

Then her eyes lit up and she was fully awake.

"Our birthday." He said beating her to the statement.

"Race ya downstairs" he said as Charlie frustratedly threw the comb down that she'd been trying to comb her sleep tangled hair with.

"Hey no fair!" she yelled running after him then tripping and falling on the last stair getting up and running to the living room where she stopped dead in her tracks.

In the living room there were presents pilled everywhere and her family, minus the Dursleys, who never came to visit the Potters not even if they were asked, which they weren't.

Her friends, Tasia Black, Sirius' kid, Nick and Kat (Katrina) Lupin, Remus' kids he'd thought he'd lost to death eaters, as did Sirius for Tasia, and the cousins, Anabelle, or Belle Wood, and Issabelle, or Issy, Weasley.

Hermione had shocked them all when she'd married Fred Weasley, a very unthought of match, as did Ginny when her and Oliver Wood got hitched (by that time she'd gotten over her crush on Harry).

But unfortunately, times got from going to good to plummeting to horrible.

As Ginny gave birth to Vanessa Wood, her and Oliver's second child, something happened and her system started shutting down.

Mere minutes after Vanessa was born Ginny was pronounced dead.

Oliver had never gotten over it quite fully, nor had any of the Weasleys.

Hermione was there, as well as Ron Weasley, his wife, Hally Jones, a muggle born, and his whole family and Oliver Wood was there too, with Vanessa and Belle.

Now about twenty or so people stood in the living room.

"So... open your presents!" Tasia and Nick said at the same time.

Charlie noticed Tasia had put her very messy dark brown hair into a braid that hung down her back, a few tendrils of it wove gracefully onto her now tanned face.

Her brown eyes shined with her usual happiness and mirth.

Nick's reckless smile that lit his grey-blue eyes up and made his messy light brown hair fall in them was, as almost always, on his face.

Him and Kat looked so much alike no one would guess they weren't twins and that Kat was a year older than him.

No wonder everyone's in love with him Charlie thought.

She then made herself busy and tore into a present with sapphire blue wrapping with golden trim and went pale, her eyes widened in surprise.

A beautiful golden box sat inside the big cardboard box, inside it was a silver necklace with a arrowhead in the middle and a half a dozen gems on either side.

Inside this box was a tiny silver box with some calligraphy on it in golden writing. Inside of it was a silver ring with a sapphire in the middle, next to it was a emerald on the left,a diamond on the right.

'From Kat, Nick, Vanessa, Issy & Tasia' the card read.

Charlie didn't even want to guess how much it cost them.

A fortune in muggle money probably.

"Oh my god thank you so much!" She said hoarsely and hugged each of them.

"I'll wear these forever! I promise." Kat laughed

"Anything for our lil' sister."

Lil' sister, the pet name they had given her when they met when she was five, her and Alex were the youngest of the group of close friends, Kat was the oldest.

"Anyways are you gonna open the rest or not?" Tasia said smiling and she turned to another in glowing blue wrapping.

Alex watched Charlie and laughed quietly to his self then turned to his own presents and tore into a purple one with a royal blue ivy design on it.

The box was surprisingly long and demanded attention.

So, giving it what it wanted, Alex tore into it, and practically fell backwards.

Inside was a beautiful silver plane model its surface as sleek shiny and beautiful as a real one.

"Wow" he breathed then looked at the card.

'With love from mum and dad.'

"Wow thanks" he said in barely a whisper.

"Anything for our son" his mum said happily as her bright green eyes sparkled at how happy her son looked.

A happiness she wondered if her husband ever had as a child with what family he had.

It made her sick to think of that family.

The family that had beat him till blood flowed until his sixth year when Sirius was freed and Harry went to live with Remus and him, when he'd met her.

Harry was now an auror fighting dark wizards.

Although in his seventh year he'd finally defeated Voldemort with his own curse, Avada Kadavra, many wizards still remained loyal, hoping that their master would rise again.

The worst loss of their time at Hogwarts had been when Voldemort had murdered George Weasley maliciously, then left what was left of him in Harry's dorm and had captured both Ron and Ginny.

That night Harry found them and,risking his own life, got them and killed Voldemort.

Harry'd been so close to death, slipping in and out of consciousness.

Once his heart had even stopped, but they'd gotten him back.

Of course gradually they'd told their children, who didn't really seem affected in a bad way, it just heightened their ever growing respect for their father.

Now she watched them unwrap their presents and smiled.

They looked so happy and carefree.

If only they could stay that innocent forever.


	2. Disclaimer and Side Notes

1Disclaimer: Harry potter and all related charterers and things are owned strictly by J.K Rowling. I write this fanfiction for private entertainment reasons only. The characters that you do not recognize from the Harry Potter books, along with the plot, are mine. The story is rated M for sex scenes, violence, rape, graphic words, and a few other things. Reading this story is your choice and I hold no responsibility for the way it affects you.

Side Notes: I wrote this fic with help form my friend Firenzie, I would like you all to know that. I hope that you all read my fic and that you enjoy it. It's very slow in the beginning but I already have it written pretty far ahead and things really start to speed up, if you can trust me I'd love that. Reviews are always appreciated and desired. But PLEASE do not be rude.


	3. Chapter 3

1Charlie unwrapped her other presents, books, a few dolls that she inwardly groaned at.

Why couldnt people figure out she didn't play with dolls?

She was eleven now not five!

She looked around and saw Vanessa Wood, the youngest daughter of the Woods, the one, unfortunately, Ginny'd died having.

Vanessa was tall and skinny with silk-like red hair and deep blue eyes.

She was the kind girls were jealous of and guys loved.

But despite her outer beauty, which had got a few guys into a fight over her once, she had a perfectly beautiful inner one too.

She was beautiful and talented from anywhere from quidditch to singing or acting to pranks, which everyone that Charlie knew was great at.

She also was extremely smart.

And she had a crush on Alex.

Most girls did but only Charlie knew how much of a crush Vanessa had on him even if she was great at hiding it.

"Hey" Charlie said going over to her.

"Why're you standing over here?" She asked then a mischevous glint came into her eyes.

"Because of Alex?" She asked.

"No of course not! But i got you a pretty cool present, here but watch out, its kinda heavy." She said, eager to get off the subject of Alex.

"Sure... lie to one of your best friends, i don't mind" Charlie joked.

"You gonna open it or not?"

"Yeah, yeah... wait a second" Charlie said sitting the box down.

It was plain cardboard box with air holes cut into it and Charlie could hear some noise in it.

She quickly opened the box and froze with both delight and suprise as a furry thing jumped out and licked her senseless, its tail wagging like it'd never stop.

"A puppy" she said looking at it then turned to her parents.

"Mom dad can i please keep it?" she asked giving them her special puppy eyes.

"You spoiled her" Harry said to Kathy who laughed.

"Me? you did!" She said mock indignantly.

Harry laughed and relented, turning to Charlie.

"Yes, hon you can keep it." He said, giving in.

"Whatcha gonna name it?" Alex asked, comming over to Charlie, who was getting licked by the maniac puppy.

"How's about Snuffles?" She said.

Harry and Kathy both just about choked on their butterbeers

"What?" Harry said coughing.

"Snuffles" she repeated "the name just came to me."

"Oh" Harry said trying to get his heart to beat normally again.

Of all the things they'd told their children, they'd never told them about Sirius' nickname they used from fourth year to sixth.

Harry had promised Sirius to tell nobody.

Kathy had found out from Sirius, and, keeping his promise, Harry had told nobody else, not even his own children, about 'Snuffles'.

"Thank you" she said to Vanessa as she got the pup off her.

"No problem, what're friends for?" Vanessa said taking Snuffles for a minute.

Charlie got up and they all went to her room after her and Alex had gotten done unwrapping all their presents.

They all stopped dead at the door.

Four barn owls sat on Charlie's bed.

" D'you think this is..." Alex started.

"I dunno" Charlie said going over to the owls and untying each parchment from their legs and giving them some water then slowly handed out all the letters to each of them.

'Miss Charolette Potter. Third floor, most left room with a balcony.'

Charlie's heart stopped and she quickly untied the parchment.

"... We are proud to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry..."

She looked up her face pale and her eyes wide with shock.

Alex's face showed the same as did the other two's.

" Did you..." Nick started

"... Get in?" Charlie finished him.

"Ok on the count of three we all show each other our papers" Vanessa said still staring, dumbstruck, at the parchment before her.

"Ok... one... two... three" Alex said.

They all nervously showed each other their papers and cried out.

They all had been accepted.

"Well its obvious with you guys, isn't it? your parents were wizards!" Kat said, not as suprised as the four were.

Her, Tasia and Belle were starting their second and third years -Belle & Tasia, second years, Kat a third.

"Yeah but still.." Alex said but was cut off by Charlie

"Hey wheres Adam?" she said, noticing Belle go red at that name.

Geeze whys everyone got a crush on eachother? she thought exhaperatedly.(sp?)

Alex woke up in his bed.

He didnt know how he got here from the play room or whatever it was called (the room's name switched daily).

He got up and went out of his room, almost stepping on a owl.

It was Belle's owl but it was from Vanessa.

For Charlie.

Alex sighed as he started for Charlie's room and slid the letter under her door.

He liked Vanessa, he liked her much more than just a childish crush, he loved her. But he didnt know if she loved him back. He was good at hiding it and he would forever unless he somehow found out she loved him back.

He knew he wouldn't have any problems with girls liking him at Hogwarts.

He had his mom's (green) eyes and his dads very untidy black hair wich the girls seemed to love in his muggle school.

They also thought his glasses made his eyes even more cute.

He thought the glasses were annoying.

Girls also seemed to love the fact that he was tall and pretty muscular.

He went back to his bedroom and went to sit on the bed but jumped back up.

Underneath him was a book with a thick leather, really dragon hide, cover.

On the front wrote in gold was the letters 'The Marauders Guide to Mischeif.'

A note was attached to its front.

Alex,

sorry this is a late birthday present and sorry i wasn't there for your birthday, Remus and i are on a "secret mission" from Dumbledore.

Can't tell you what it is 'cause its a secret.

Anyways this should make up for it.

Professor McGonnagall didn't want us to send this to you.

She seemed to think that two grown men in their early fifties were too old to think of mischeif.

Doesn't know us, does she?

Well anyways, sorry 'bout your birthday. We'll be home in a few days and just so you know, there'll be a few suprises at Hogwarts (and no your dad doesnt know what they are).

-with Love,

Sirius

Alex laughed.

Sirius would never be too old to play pranks.

He could be on his death bed still joking and laughing like nothing was wrong.

The thought of Sirius on his death bed was more than a little disturbing so he shoved it out of his mind quickly.

Charlie slowly woke up and reluctantly opened her eyes against the morning suns light that flooded her room.

She stood up stretching her stiff limbs so she could move then she showered and changed into a pair of handed down clothes from Alex (who got them from Adam).

She had other clothes, but these were more comfortable.

She went to her door just as a envelope slide under it.

What now she thought to her self then started reading it.

Charlie,

you won't believe what was sent to me from someone.

Come over you have got to see this!

from, Vanessa

Charlie read it again and sighed.

Something the way Vanessa worded it could be a cool book or muggle cd to something way important, like the letter from Hogwarts.

She quickly put on her shoes and ran downstairs yelling to her mom she'd be back in time for breakfast, maybe.

She ran across the street to avoid any cars.

"Vanessa!"she yelled and threw tiny rocks up at her window.

"So whats' this important.." she started when Vanessa finally got to the door.

"Shh.. don't let any muggles hear you, come on" Vanessa said dragging her up the stairs to Vanessa's room.

Sitting on Vanessa's shut window seal was the most beautiful creature Charlie ever saw.

It had long beautiful red feathers, a few of which were golden and stuck up on its head like a crown.

Its little golden eyes were shining and it opened its mouth, or beak, and let out the most beautiful note either girls had ever heard.

Suddenly it burst into flames and came to rest on Charlie's shoulder.

"Is this a..." Charlie started, stareing, dumbstruck at the beautiful bird.

"A pheonix?" Vanessa finished her.

"Yeah it is."

"Wow"Charlie breathed.

"Your so lucky."

"Think Dumbledore'll let me bring it to school, you know like to deliver mail and all?. It can."

"Of course he will, he's lettin' me bring Silver to school aint he?" Charlie said, referring to Silver Spirit, or Silver, her beautiful eagle.

"Well yeah, but Silver's not a pheonix"

" Dumbledore's got one why shouldn't he let you, go on ask him. If he see's it, whats its name?"

"Um... i dunno yet, maybe Venus?"

"Sounds cool. But once he finds out that Venus can deliver mail maybe he'll let you"

"Ok ill ask him. Thanks"

"No problem, what're friends for?" Charlie said getting up.

"Well i gotta go, promised mum i'd be home in time for breakfast." She said going down the stairs yelling a quick bye to Vanessa and heading home.

Charlie quickly ate her breakfast, barely noticing that Adam still wasn?t there. Her parents looked somewhat worried though.

"So you two ready to go today?" Their mom said once they?d eaten and she?d cleaned the plates with Charlie?s (grudgingly given) help. Alex looked at her, confused.

"Where mom?"

"To Daigon Alley? she said amazed he'd forgotten.

Memory of the day before shot into his brain like a bullet and he mentally kicked himself.

"Oh yeah! I forgot" he said, ignoring Charlie's snickers she was trying to muffle with her hand.

"Yeah I?m ready mom" he said shooting Charlie a look that made it even harder for her not to laugh.

"You ready Charlie?" Harry said.

"Yep" she replied weakly, her voice almost cracking from laughter at her brother?s face and she quickly got up and went up to her room.

"At least i remembered" she said for only Alex to hear then she ran up the stairs to get her wizard money.

They had their own allowances in both muggle and wizard money, and, thankfully, her saving hers paid off.

At least she wouldn?t have to see those goblins.

They gave her the creeps.

She got there and saw two owls.

'Wonder why they're here? ' she thought going over to them.

One was a brown and silver like white with beautiful crystal blue eyes.

She immediatly recognized it.

"Geminis" she said happily as Sirius' owl nipped her ear affectionatly.

Her blue eyes seemed to calm at being recognized or the tone of Charlie's voice.

She took the packages the owl had.

A note dropped to the floor.

She picked it up and read it.

Charlie,

hey how?s my favorite goddaughter? Well, as you would say my only goddaughter. Well anyways Remus and i are back from our mission, and yes were both still whole and sane, and no I?m not gonna tell you shorty.

I sent you two presents.

Well i didn?t need to say that.

You learned to count at four.

We sent Alex a present worth five and to get in it he has to read the encantation that pops up and swear it. Besides the I solemnly swear that im up to no good. We all know he isn?t up to any good, don?t we?

It says: When i get everything i need from this book i will pass it on to my heir (then it says your name) to continue the practice of mischief making.

Anyways.

Remus sent you three presents (i swear he loves out doing me, but then i love outdoing him.) So before i totally confuse you or give away what your presents are.

I end this letter here.

Happy 11th Pheonix

Charlie laughed.

He?d called her Pheonix since she was old enough to sing.

She?d always sang since she could remember.

Her mother could have been a child prodigy with her vocal talent.

Her father could have been a professional dancer. Though they both swore until his fifth year he couldn?t dance a inch without being led on by a girl until she'd found him and helped him.

She had inherited the Potter hair, hair that never stayed down or straight, and the Evans huge emerald eyes.

Alex had his dads hair, but his moms beautiful green eyes.

They both inherited the gifts of singing and dancing.

She had been Sirius' favorite godchild aside from Harry, naturally. And, at the age of three he deemed her Pheonix.

She shook her head as she read the letter over again.

He was the funniest person she'd ever met.

Nice, funny, charismatic, as her mom called it, but she didn?t even know how pronounce the word.

She slowly went over to the presents, two emerald presents with golden ivy print on them.

One had something silky and silvery, which ran over her bed edge like water from a waterfall. She picked it up and stared open mouthed.

She?d put it on her knees and sat in front of the mirror.

But her legs were gone.

She could only see the bed.

A note fell to the floor.

"This is an invisibility coat. It makes you invisible. It was your fathers and his before him and so on. Use it well Pheonix" she said reading it aloud.

Charlie could have hugged Sirius.

An invisibility cloak! the ultimate use for mischief! all her own.

Not even butterbeer could taste this sweet to her.

She looked at the clock on the wall quickly.

Five minutes until they'd go to Diagon Alley.

She quickly threw on a spaghetti strap black shirt with sparkly stuff on the front.

She didn?t like it, but her mom gave it to her, so she'd wear it just for her.

Then she put on Capri's as girls called them, really they were Adams shorts that were way too long and colored black then she put on her blue shirt she got in America from a baseball game.

No one understood her and Sirius' passion for baseball, but it was "their time" as they called it.

Every 25 of June they went to see a game.

It read 'Pirates', as that was her favorite team.

She took the parcels from a creamy white she-owl who flew alongside Sirius' to get some water.

She looked longingly at the presents left but heard Alex calling for her to hurry up.

She gave the owls a bit of her icing off of what was left of her cake, just barely over a half since they had three, since her pet eagle was actually born on her tenth birthday. Kind of stupid to celebrate a pets birthday, but she loved too, just felt reassuring to her.

The owls nipped her affectionately and she petted them then they left out her window.

She quickly stole a bite of her cake from its box were she'd put a preserving charm on it then ran to the hallway.

"Im coming!" she yelled then jumped off the balcony (which was only on the second floor) and landed on her feet in front of her brother putting on her sandals and tying her long hair into a ponytail that hung down her back.

"This girl's gonna give me a heart attack! It?s like having three boys in the house instead of two!" her mom said watching her daughter, who smiled innocently.

She inwardly was swelling with pride.

She had taught her daughter right.

'Be what you want to be' she had always told her.

'Don?t let anyone tell you what you are, unless it happens to be like a teacher or Harry and i or someone like that.' Her daughter sure had took those words to heart and Kathy couldn?t help but smile.

"Tell me, which one of us spoiled them?" Harry said coming up behind her and kissing her on the top of the head.

She turned around and kissed him.

"Both of us."

"Mm hmm, thought so" he said his emerald eyes shining.

Alex and Charlie looked at each other.

Alex rolled his eyes and Charlie sighed lightly.

"Mom dad it's nice that you love each other and all but we gotta go" she said. They both looked at each other and laughed. Then Harry turned serious.

"Honey, I've got to go to the Ministry. You understand?" He asked kneeling down so he was her height.

"Of course i understand. I'm not four" she lied.

Of course she didn't understand and she never would. She didn't know where her father went and stayed sometimes for days.

She didn't know why he went or anything. How could she understand something she didn't know?

Harry smiled affectionately at his daughter.

"That's my girl, I'll see you in a bit then. Tell your brother that i said bye and I'll see him later. I've got a big surprise for both of you when i come back."

'If i come back ' he thought sadly.

"Sure dad" she said running outside to her brother.

"He's leaving again ain't he." It was more of a statement than a question. She nodded her head slightly and bit her lip.

"He . . .. he said he'd be back in a few days" she said quietly.

She could tell he was about to snap something back by the look of frustration in his eyes but before he could, their mom came out.

"Come on we'd best get going" she said getting them in the car.

They got out of the car in London a little while later.

Charlie looked around and spotted the familiar old pub in between some old company building and a book store, it was barely noticeable to muggles. Charlie wasn't even sure if muggles could see it. She stared at it a minute thinking until Alex pulled her across the street. They went into the old pub after their mom almost silently.

Alex looked around.

He liked this place even though some might find it a bit odd.

With the dust piles in the corners and crevices of the walls growing and the few cobwebs that were too high to reach that wove around the rusty old chandelier positioned in the middle of the room. Its light reaching a few dark corners seemed enough to make the place feel warm and welcoming.

The children had been here since they could remember and even made a few friends here.

"Ah . . .. miss Potter. Usual today?" Said the old man with old some rotten and some golden teeth and a long beard.

Alex thought he looked like a pirate since his grin would show off the pirate teeth as him and Charlie called them.

Alex thought is name was either Will or Bill. He didn't know since they always called him Pirate.

"No, my kids are starting Hogwarts and were here to get their stuff. Maybe later today" she said

politely.

"Where's Harry? Haven't seen him in a while" he asked ,as he'd known Harry once a while

ago.

"He's at work" she said shrugging and brushing a strand of hair from her eyes.

Pirate flashed the two his 'Pirate grin' and they couldn't help but laugh.

"Well I'll see ya'll later then." He said as they left.

They went to Gringotts first, Charlie stayed outside since she had money already.

A boy with light brown hair and dark blue eyes that looked like they could pierce through you with so much as a glance walked up to Gringotts alone. He was sort of small and pale and acted rather strange.

Charlie looked at him and knew she'd seen someone like him before, but she couldn't place him with any of her parents' friends.

The boy must've noticed her gaze for he turned, the royal blue robes that hung about loosely on his thin pale frame, flowing gracefully behind him and fixed her with such a look. She shifted, starting to feel uncomfortable.

Something about those eyes fixed her to the spot.

He seemed to study her.

She was wearing muggle clothes and draped around her was a light, loose scarlet cloak. He seemed puzzled at her appearance.

"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice so sharp it felt like the bitter cold air of winter had ran through her.

"Charlie Potter, who are you?" she replied trying to keep eye contact and be polite.

"Potter..." he said thoughtfully to his self. "Potter... I'm Mike. Mike Landavor." He said.

Charlie looked at him confused.

She remembered the name vaguely.

They were an old wizarding family, like hers. But they were all bred in Slytherin.

His parents, if she remembered correctly from a story Harry would tell them about his child-hood, were rather rich too. They, despite the Slytherin background, had helped Dumbledore. His father, Peter, had transferred from America in Harry's sixth year.

They had fought bravely against Voldemort, but not like anyone had imagined.

They, like Severus Snape, Harry's old potions teacher at Hogwarts, had spied on Voldemort.

"Nice to meet you" she said offering her hand, as they always did when they met old friends or acquaintances that knew their father somehow.

"Same here" he said, his eyes had softened somewhat but still retained a coldness that seemed to surround him like a blanket.

"Well I've got to go." He said quickly heading inside Gringotts.

"Who was that?" Alex asked, he'd just come out.

"Just someone I met" Charlie said in an offhand sort of way.

"So... now you need books, you know where to get them, right?" Their mom said coming out of Gringotts after Alex. They both nodded

"Right... I have to go do something. I'll meet you in Florean Fortesque's in about a hour and a half that should be enough time, right?"

They both nodded again and she kissed them both then set out in the opposite direction of them.


	4. Chapter 4

1They went into Flourish and Blotts.

They sold practically everything that could be read; schoolbooks of course, but also old, venerable looking books of magic spells, little pocket books, recipes books you could tell apart from the others ten feet away by the smell of cabbages and lettuce and such, and there was even a cage in a dark corner, containing hirsute-looking books with four feet, staring at you with creepy little orange-red eyes, everything.

Charlie looked in another corner where there was a huge cage full of maybe a hundred copies of The Monster Book of Monsters. Charlie was glad she didn't need those yet.

Torn pages flew everywhere as the Monster books fought with each other. Grabbing tearing

wrestling, and what looked like almost dog-fighting.

"Cool" she heard Alex whisper behind her.

"Yep, but think of the poor guy that has to get them out. Hate to be him"

"Yeah me too, bit of bad luck in his job huh?" Charlie didn't have time to respond. The manager came towards them.

"Hogwarts first years?" They both nodded, "won't be needing those eh?"

"No, sir" Alex said still interested in the books.

"Well come on, you've got to get your books" he said sounding happy that he didn't have to

reach inside of the cage again.

When they got their books and went out of Flourish and Blotts' they heard someone calling their

names. They both turned in the opposite directions looking for whoever it was.

Then Charlie spotted the person but she didn't recognize who it was at first.

A beautiful girl came towards them with shoulder length, curly hair that looked like Vanessa.

They both realized slowly that it really was Vanessa.

She wore a blue spaghetti strap shirt and black low cut bellbottoms.

"Hey guys" Vanessa said.

Charlie had to look twice to even take it all in. Just a few days ago she'd had long straightened hair and light bangs, which now were growing out. Now it was shorter and curly and down. In her hair was a beautiful lily clip.

"Wow" Charlie said "did you get a makeover?" Vanessa laughed.

"Yep my muggle cousin did. How's it look?"

"Great" Alex said, still staring. Charlie laughed inwardly.

Too bad they don't know the person they love loves them back. Maybe I'll tell them at Hogwarts. She thought watching them.

"So...did you get your books yet?" Charlie asked her

"no, Belle's giving me hers" she said

"Where's your dad?"

"He's at work" Alex said, "where's yours?"

"At work, too."

They heard a group of kids calling his name.

"Oh, there's my friends, gotta go." he said, looking both glad and not too glad of being out of that situation.

"Charlie, d'you think.."

"That Alex likes you? well I was gonna tell you later at Hogwarts but now that you ask, I'd better tell you." Vanessa looked like she was ready for a definate no, but Charlie didn't know why.

Vanessa was the most beautiful girl she'd ever met. She'd definitely be the most beautiful

at Hogwarts. Charlie smiled

"He loves you too."

"You're kidding! Alex loves me? no way!"

"Yes he does, why wouldn't he? You're so beautiful, smart and talented, i mean, look who you had for parents. Both of them have, or had, which ever, killer looks and talent, not to mention brains." Vanessa smiled.

"Thanks Charlie."

"No problem, what're friends for? Anyways... So what do we gotta get next? oh yeah a wand."

They walked into Olivander's and stood there

"D'you get the feeling that..." Charlie started

"That we're in a library? Yep, wonder where he is?" Vanessa finished her.

"I dunno" suddenly a man with huge unblinking silver eyes came out of nowhere.

The door behind them slammed shut making both of them jump a foot in the air.

"Ahhh... Charlie Potter and Vanessa Wood, come to get your wands eh?" Charlie felt a shiver go down her spine.

"How's he know our names?" Vanessa whispered into her ear, but she just shook her head

slightly.

"The wand chooses the wizard, of course." He continued. "So now who goes first?" They both

looked at each other and Charlie looked at him.

"I will." He looked at her undaunted.

"Oh yes seems like yesterday when your father came to get his wand, holly with a phoenix feather core, eleven inches, nice and supple. Of course no two wands have the same core, as no two dragons, or phoenix's or unicorns are alike. Your mother's was Beech wood phoenix feather core, eight and a half inches, rather springy. Good for divination too. Now, what's your wand hand?"

"um... my right." She said as a tape measure, she realized that it was working itself, measured her.

"Well then try this one. Willow, ten and a half inches, very flexible, good for divination. A unicorn

hair core, go on give it a wave."

Charlie looked at and waved it, but nothing happened.

"Ok try this one, willow, nine inches, with a phoenix feather core, springy, good for charms." She took it and again nothing happened.

"Not to worry, here try this one. Dragon Heartstring core, Ash seven inches. Charlie sighed and took it. Immediately she felt it. A feeling of warmth spreading all over her body from her finger tips. She waved it and blue and gold sparks shot out of the tip.

"This wand has chosen you, that will be 7 galleons" he said putting the wand in a paper bag and handing it to her. She paid him and walked back to Vanessa, who walked up next.

"I remember your mothers wand very well, miss Wood," he said as the tape measure measured her. If the subject of him remembering Ginny bothered Vanessa, she didn't show it one bit.

"Dragon heartstring core, willow, very flexible, good with Care of Magical Creatures. Your fathers

was very powerful. phoenix feather core, mahogany, eight inches, good for transfiguration."

The tape measure stopped and immediately flew to its box.

"Well, try this one. 13 inches, weeping willow, unicorn hair core. Very good for powerful workings such as Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Vanessa took it, her hands shaking slightly.

The warmth Charlie felt radiated through her fingers. She waved it and purple and scarlet sparks flew out.

"Congratulations, the wand chose you, miss Wood." Vanessa looked at it.

"You, you mean this is my wand? And it chose me on the first try? Wow, cool." She said.

On their way out Charlie fell over someone on the sitting sidewalk. She landed hard on the ground

and partially skidded on the ground.

A warm feeling on her face told her that her cheek was bleeding and a sharp pain in her knees told her that she scraped them. Her hands and head ached and she didn't even want to know how she looked. Her wand bag lay a foot out of her reach and she didn't feel like reaching for it. Little black stars filled her vision but she was determined not to black out.

Hands grabbed her arm and hauled her gently up."Charlie you ok?" a voice boomed into her head.

The pain in her head she'd dubbed as a million hammers hitting her head at the same time, hurt, if possible, worse.

She looked up slowly.

Vanessa's never told me she had a twin she thought looking blankly at her friend.

Oh how lovely...everyone has a twin.

She blinked twice and the world came back into focus.

"Jeese don't talk so loud, I'm getting a killer headache and i don't really wanna keep it if you don't mind." She said sarcastically.

She rubbed her head and then felt her cheek.

She knew immediately she'd at least scraped it a bit by the stinging it was giving her from touching it. Her pants were ripped and her knees were scraped pretty good. But besides the minor pain and the killer headache, she felt fine enough.

"Oh my God im so sorry i really didn't mean to trip you" a voice rang out.

Charlie looked up again still half dazed.

A girl maybe their age stood next to Vanessa.

She had long light brown hair, currently occupying the shape of a braid, and bright blue eyes that looked like the weight of the world was poured into them. She wore simple purple witch's robes and, Charlie almost burst out laughing.

A Pirates hat.

"Charlie are you ok?" Vanessa asked again, she got up and smiled weakly.

"Yeah im fine, Jeese, you'd think I'd been pushed off a cliff or something. Its ok, I'm not hurt, well not much anyways, but I'm gonna have a pretty nasty cut or bruise. But that's all." She turned to the girl who'd accidentally tripped her.

She looked ready to be socked a good one.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm fine. I'm Charolette Potter, but you can call me Charlie, all my friends and family do." Charlie said in the nicest voice she could, not sure if she sounded like a total loser nerd or a person getting ready to beat the kid up.

"This is my friend, Vanessa Woods. What's your name?" The girl looked taken aback by the sudden kindness. Then she frowned.

This girl, a Potter, was offering her friendship.

Of all the bloody things she could have offered her, she'd certainly not expecting friendship! She'd expected something more along the lines of being beat up.

But what was the use? This girl would hate her with a passion if she knew her name.

Everyone, even very old friends of the family (that had turned of course) hated her because of

what her father and grandfather were. That was why her mother had left her father, but

unfortunately, while adults can give up last names, children can't.

Well maybe she wont ask if i only tell her my first name. At least i can try, cant i? She sighed.

Please, just one time let it work.

"My name's Maddy, short for Madison." Charlie looked at her, confused, she was used to people saying their full names.

"What's your last name?" Vanessa asked politely.

Oh great now I'm stuck, maybe i can get my way outta this. Hopefully. "Er.. I don't have a last name" this really got Charlie.

"you don't got a last name? How?" The girl Maddy frowned

"My mom's side of the family gave up that name. And anyways if you knew it, I can guarantee you, you'd hate me." She smiled weakly, hoping that was enough to keep them off.

But, of course, it wasn't.

"We'd never hate you. Unless your name was Dursley, but i don't think it is." Charlie laughed at

Maddy's confused face. "Just horrible muggle distant relations." She explained "and you cant be

that bad. You like the Pirates." She was relieved to see the small smile start across the girls face.

Well at least it was worth a try. Guess I've gotta tell them. "Well if your sure you wanna know its Malfoy."They both stared at her like she was crazy.

"What! Maddy you've got to be kidding! You don't even look like one! I mean, the white-blonde hair, the pale, sickly complexion, well, you are pale, but still, and the icy cold blue eyes. Jesus Christ! You don't have any of those, anyways why on earth would we hate you? Its just a name." Charlie said, partially in shock. Maddy smiled a small, sad smile as if they were playing some joke and she saw right through it.

"Come off of it, everyone hates a Malfoy, even one that don't act like one, because of who we are -and were, just like everyone loves your families because of who they are and were."

She sounded defeated, like she was almost expecting to be spit on or something.

Charlie and Vanessa just stared at her. They thought it was stupid to hate someone just because of a name, they'd never been raised that way and certainly had never yet met someone like that.

"Maddy, we don't hate you. We weren't brought up like that. If I ever was mean to someone because of a name, I'd be grounded!" Vanessa said and Charlie nodded in agreement.

"Look unless you want us to hate you, we could never. D'you want us to hate you?" Charlie asked in the same dorky nice voice.

Ok, dorky nice voice, you can leave now. Charlie found herself thinking.

Maddy was frozen in disbelief.

They didn't hate her? Were they joking? Her whole dad's side of the family was death eaters! But they sounded so sincere she could help but smile.

Maybe just maybe this is different, oh God just let this be different. Please don't let it be some cruel joke.

"Of... of course i don't want you to hate me!" Maddy said in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Well we don't." Charlie said smiling.

"You mean it... really?" Maddy mentally kicked herself for sounding so dumb, but her mind couldn't form any other words right then. The other two nodded slowly.

"Why would we say it if we didn't mean it?" Vanessa said.

"Most people hate me because of who im related to. I just never had someone not hate me after I told them my name. Your reaction sort of stunned me, I guess." Maddy said slowly, carefully choosing her words so as not to sound even more stupid than she probably already did.

"Oh we're s'possed to be mean to you?" Vanessa joked but, instead of laughing, or just smiling, Maddy went deathly pale and looked like she could have cried, "I was just joking!" Vanessa half laughed a little nervously and Maddy seemed to relax and smiled this time.

"Well then we'll be your friends, how's that?" Charlie said, Maddy nodded.

"You think your parents would mind you being friends with a Malfoy?" She asked sounding a little wary.

"'Course they wouldn't" Charlie said, "they don't care 'bout names."

"Well then its official," Vanessa started,

"were your friends." Charlie finished her smiling, "You get all your stuff?" Maddy looked at her list.

"Yeah 'cept for a cauldron and robes."

"Well then come on we gotta get our robes anyways." They said dragging her to Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

The store looked quite normal; very big, a tiny bit dusty and somewhat dimly light. Madam Malkin came out of a smaller room.

"You're here for your robes?" they all nodded and she took them to the back of the shop and had them sit on stools a few feet away from Charlie was another boy. She recognized him as the boy she'd met outside of Gringotts, Mike. His piercing eyes looked out into nowhere and he didn't seem ready to talk to anyone.

Charlie looked he other way when suddenly his voice rung in her ears.

"Hey, you look a little roughed up, what happened?" It wasn't a sneering sort of comment, or a really concerned one. Just more of a blunt one.

"Fell, but I'm fine." She said in the same blank tone unconsciously reaching to her sore cheek.

"Don't look it." What was it that Charlie detected in the voice, mocking? concern? sarcasm? she couldn't figure it out.

"Well I am," she replied coolly. Her eyes stared where his had lingered before. Out the window, into Diagon Alley.

Mike spoke next, his voice had some expression caught between sarcasm, concern, and a strange excitement. The three made a "interesting" combination.

"You don't look it but never mind. Who are your friends?" His sharp eyes flickered over the other two, who were talking to each other.

"They're Vanessa Wood and Madison, or Maddy, Malfoy," she announced proudly but he cast her a doubtful, and somewhat worried, look.

"A Malfoy? You sure you wanna hang around their bunch?" Charlie smiled a quizzical smile that made him somehow feel like he'd just swallowed a tankard of butterbeer.

"You obviously don't know her."

He looked about to say something when Madam Malcolm cam out with their robes and Charlie said goodbye to Mark after paying for their robes, then they walked out the store.

"So, what next?" Vanessa asked walking in between Charlie and Maddy.

"Um... How's about the pets store, I'm gettin a owl, what're you gettin?" Charlie said.

"A owl" Maddy said in her usual quiet voice.

"I've already got a pet," Vanessa said, giving Charlie a knowing smile, "Why're you gettin a owl Charlie, ain't you takin Silver to Hogwarts?" Charlie nodded,

"Yep, but Alex don't have a pet, so I'm gettin him a owl" Charlie smiled inwardly as Vanessa turned slightly pink at the mention of Alex. She shared a knowing yet amused look with Maddy who seemed to figure out that Vanessa had a mad crush on Alex.

"Hey, uh... Charlie?" Vanessa looked slightly nervous like, "can i..." Charlie grinned, getting what Vanessa was trying to say.

"Sure you can, which one?" Though she hated romance with a passion, she'd still help any of her friends along in it. Vanessa looked relieved, if that was even the word for it.

"Thanks."

"No problem what're friends for?"

"Hey, where's Maddy?" Vanessa asked suddenly.

"Um... she's over there i think." Charlie said looking towards where she last saw their friend. Vanessa's sudden cry jolted her.

"What?" Vanessa looked almost in a dream-like state and her voice sounded dreamy-like.

"Charlie, look!" she said in a voice just above a whisper. Charlie looked up at one of the most beautiful owls she'd ever seen in her life.

Silky jet-black feathers hung about its frame. The big blue-green eyes looked at them intently. The owls eyes darted out of her almost sleepy trance and looked around.

"God it's..." Vanessa started.

"Beautiful" Charlie breathed.

Maddy looked up at all the owls, towering above her in cages to the ceiling, looking a far up made her dizzy and she resolved not to do that again.

She still found it hard to believe that she wasn't here alone. Her mother was always somewhat distant ever since 'it' happened, therefore Maddy had just went to Diagon Alley alone, actually in hopes to stay alone, because being not alone when she wasn't with her mother usually meant being bullied by her twin-brother, Jack, or, worse, her protégé Death Eater older sister. But now she wasn't alone, and she wasn't with either sibling, she was with friends.

Friends? Are you sure you want to think of them as friends already? You know how the other ones were. A part of her mind rang out.

Yes she answered wearily and sadly, I remember. I just hoped... never mind.

Suddenly, a soft hooting brought her back to earth. She looked up and saw a beautiful white barn owl with red-brown tips to its feathers. Green eyes peered out at her almost solemnly, with a mix of some kind of affection.

"What, you want me to get you?" she asked the owl, feeling quite stupid when she realized it couldn't hear her. She shook her head, then looked at its tag, a boy. The owl fluttered in its cage then cocked its head to the right.

Maddy smiled, "Fine lets get you outta here. Wonder what the other two picked?" She got the cage and went over where the other two were when she found them again.

"Wow, that yours? Its beautiful," she said staring at the beautiful jet-black owl.

"Yep" Vanessa looked happy, "beautiful isn't it?"

"That yours?" Charlie said looking at the owl.

"Yeah" Vanessa looked at it,

"beautiful," she said. The owl cocked his head to the right again and surveyed all the people in front of him.

"What're you gonna name him?" Charlie asked. Maddy thought a minute, racking her brain for a right name for a he-owl.

"Cyvus" she said suddenly.

"Cool" the other two said at the same time.

They then paid for their owls and left the store.

"So, we've already got the books, wands, cauldrons, telescopes, robes and pets, do we need anything else?" Vanessa said Charlie pulled out her list.

"nope we've got everything. Now just to find my git of a brother." Charlie laughed inwardly at the confusion on Maddy's face.

"He's my twin brother" she whispered to her, "Alex, the one Vanessa's in love with." Vanessa shot her a look and she burst out laughing.Days literally flew by, though not without the occasional snail taking over some parts of the day.

Adam had finally turned up, with a few cuts, scratches, and bruises he said he'd been in a fight with a few trouble some git wizards, but with some help he'd gained the upper hand. Charlie and Alex -as he felt somewhat awkward for doubting Maddy- had told their parents and Adam about their new friend. All of them had the same reaction as Alex had, suspicion, doubt, concern, and still had a trace of doubts in the far corners of their minds.

She'd also unwrapped her other four presents.

Sirius' other present was some dung bombs, a whole load of sugar quills, chocolate frogs, and a few other mischief making things. Remus' three were a whole bunch of cool books she'd always wanted, although he wouldn't say where or how he'd gotten them. The other two were a book to all of Hogwarts (including every single corridor the Marauders found) but he'd not said how to find them. Charlie had cursed his love of riddles, and the third were prank things they could use in Potions to 'lighten up the class.' As he'd put it. Charlie knew how much he'd loathed Potions wit a passion as a child. Certainly not any more than the other Marauders had.

Charlie sat on her bed as the full moons beams cast graceful rays of lights over her room. Small candles Adam had gotten her in the shape of silver phoenix's that never melted burned merrily flickering their light over the bed room. She smiled and leaned back, her muggle book, Lord of the Rings - the Fellowship of the Ring sat propped up against her pillow. Page 200 she read from the bottom of the page.

Just two weeks she thought excitedly. Two weeks and I'll be at Hogwarts with my friends. God i can't wait.

The mere thought of being at the school with Vanessa, Maddy -her best friends, Vanessa being her first best friend- and her other friends was enough to make her curse the fact she had to wait two weeks to go there.

She sighed and tossed her book aside.

There is no way i can read that right now. She thought and got up. Alex was always willing for a game of exploding snap, maybe that'd help her.

God anything to get the time to go faster. When she got there she frowned. Alex was bent over his desk, his hands in his messy black hair. The emerald eyes seemed so far away then. She wondered what happened.

"Hey 'Lex" she said softly calling him her nickname for him.

"Hey" came the muffled reply.

"What's wrong?" He shrugged.

"Nothin just nervous 'bout Hogwarts and all i guess." Charlie stared at him, her eyes narrowed.

"Lex don't give me that crap, I've known you for eleven years and you sure as all hell ain't fooling me." She sat down as if showing im she was not leaving.

"C'mon what's really goin' on?"

Alex sighed deeply then heaved his head up.

"Ok fine, it's just that i love Vanessa so much, but i don't know if she loves me. Damn it what's the use, she probably hates me anyways, or thinks of me as just a friend. And every time i come close to telling her i worm out of it. Am i just a chicken or something?"

Charlie could tell this cry came from his heart and frowned slightly. Then she smiled, her eyes light up so brightly it looked at if someone had light a Christmas tree up inside of her eyes at full blast. She laughed slightly.

How ironic that both of them loved each other but had yet to figure it out.

"Chill, Lex, what im about to tell you is the truth i swear on my very life, K?" He nodded, confused. Her eyes, if possible, light up even more and she leaned close enough to whisper in his ear, "Vanessa loves you too."

The next morning when they were all eating there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it" Charlie said jumping up. Vanessa stood there, in a pair of jeans and a baby blue spaghetti shirt with her hair up in a loose ponytail, and holding a suit-case like bag. She looked either very frustrated or very mad. "Got in a fight with your dad?" she nodded.

"Yep over Maddy, he was all warning me about their 'bunch' and i was trying to tell him that she was different, and you know my dad. Headstrong." She shook her head, "so, can i stay here?"

"Hold up. Dad mom can Vanessa stay here?" Charlie hollered into the kitchen. Her mom and dad agreed, "C'mon, you can stay in my room."

As they went up to her room she whispered to Alex,

"your girlfriends here." He turned around and shot her daggers, she just laughed.

"Where's Venus?" Charlie asked, seeing the phoenix wasn't with Vanessa.

"She'll be here." Sure enough when they opened the door to Charlie's room the phoenix was sitting on Charlie's bed, looking at both of the calmly.

"You see Maddy lately?" Vanessa asked once they shut the door, Charlie shook her head.

"Nope, I went over earlier and her mom said she was sick, but day before yesterday she looked fine." Maddy only lived in the alley that branched off the end of their street so the three girls saw each other often enough. Vanessa seemed like she believed Maddy's mom so Charlie acted like she did, but truthfully, there was a sliver of a doubt that hung in both girls' minds. Unless it was a flu, people just didn't get suddenly sick out of nowhere, and nobody else around the street or alley had the flu.

They tried for the remainder of that day to shake the feeling of strange doubt but, as with most things you think about over and over, it just started getting bigger and bigger. They wanted to believe Maddy's mom, but something still sounded strangely wrong.

"But why would she lie to either us?" Vanessa said in a voice barely above a whisper. They stood in the hallway near Charlie's bedroom door, it was almost supper time and the two could not keep silent about each of their doubts anymore.

"I dunno that's what im trying to figure out. I want to believe her because she would have no reason to lie, right?" Vanessa frowned and thought a moment.

"She'd only lie to us if something was wrong, but there's nothing visibly wrong with Maddy."

"Yeah, but you don't just get sick all of a sudden out of nowhere, unless it's the flu and nobody has the flu."

Vanessa was about to answer when Alex came up. He turned a light shade of scarlet seeing Vanessa.

"Hey" his words sounded a little forced "I've got something I've been meaning to show you." Charlie bit her lip furiously, it was all she could do to keep from laughing.

"Sure, coming Charlie?" Vanessa said slowly, Charlie nodded slightly, almost tempted to say 'no'. They went into Alex's room as he took out two packages or something. He opened them and something silvery poured out onto his bed.

"Woah... is that a invisibility cloak?" Vanessa asked looking at it in wonder.

"Actually its two. I only need one." Charlie smiled at her best friend.

"You can have it, I've already got one." Both Vanessa and Alex stared at her.

"You got one?" Vanessa asked confused. Charlie nodded and Alex found his voice again.

"Who sent it to you? When?" Charlie rolled her eyes.

"I got it the day we went to Diagon Alley, but I don't know who sent it" she said, lying at the end.

"So what else haven't you told me?" Vanessa jokingly asked her when they got in Charlie's room.

"A few things, but now I'll show you. Charlie pulled out all the presents Remus and Sirius sent her. At the end she looked in awe.

"Woah, wish i got those things, all i ever get is regular stuff. Think of all the pranks we'll pull with these!" Charlie laughed,

"Maybe we'll even out do the Marauders record if we're lucky" she said.

"Wonder if Maddy's good at pranks" she added after a minute Vanessa thought a moment

"Probably. She reminds me a lot of Remus, don't she you?" Charlie nodded and she went on, "and if she's like Remus, hopefully she'll be good at pranks."

"Well she's not too much like him," Charlie said "or she'd be a guy and she'd be in her fifties, she'd look like him, and she's not a werewolf."

Why do i sound so suspicious? she's sick her mom said so. Charlie thought angrily.

Then why do i feel so doubtful? one part of her mind said.

Because your too stupid to believe your friend. You want something big to be happening and you want to be the one to discover what ever you want it to be. Another said furiously. Charlie sighed and forced her mind to where she was.

Stop thinking so stupid. She told herself.

"So, which House are we gonna pull our first prank in Hogwarts on?" Vanessa asked, knowing the answer.

"The Slytherins" Charlie said almost immediately and Vanessa laughed.

"Why did i even ask?"


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey Vanessa" Vanessa turned to face Charlie from the piece of parchment she was looking at as if testing it to see if it was good or not.

"Hmm?" Charlie looked at the piece of parchment, held flat by two rather large books on either side of it.

"What's that?" Vanessa followed her eyes to the piece of parchment.

"Oh this?" Charlie nodded

"Its a map" Charlie looked at it then her friend and gave Vanessa a quizzical look.

"You know, like the Marauders Map? I modeled it after that. That way every corridor in Hogwarts is on here already. Since the both of us have invisibility cloaks, we could make twice the amount of mischief a normal first year could. Just one problem"

Charlie frowned, what could be a problem with a map like the Marauders Map?

"It needs a password" Vanessa said, frowning. Charlie looked at her strangely.

"Why not use the Marauders Map's password?" Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"Two reasons, one, people would guess it easily, two, maps like these can't have the same passwords or else they wont work." Charlie thought a minute.

"why don't you ask Maddy?" She asked, since Maddy had came over to their house, and by a bit of bribing(sp?) they had convinced both her mom and their parents to let her stay the eight days until September first. Vanessa gave her a incredulous look.

"It was supposed to be a surprise. That would ruin it!" Charlie frowned and tried to think up a password.

"Did you ask Alex?" Vanessa shook her head.

"Nope he helped me make it. He couldn't think up a unique password that wouldn't be guessable." Charlie didn't have time to feel a bit mad that she hadn't asked her for help. But it was a good thing that they'd actually been together. Suddenly a light flickered in Vanessa's eyes.

"Why not Deal su ot fiechsim?" Charlie looked at her confused.

"Come again?" Vanessa shook her head.

"Deal su ot fiechsim."

"Are you speaking French?"

"No! its Lead us to mischief spelled backwards."

"Oh, duh!" Charlie said trying it out.

"Sounds cool" she said after a minute.

"So when do we show it to Maddy?"

" I'll show it to Maddy. You pretend to be surprised."

"fine" Charlie groaned, rolling her eyes, but smirking.

Later that day, after Vanessa cast a few charms on the map and put the password into it Charlie headed downstairs to the living room were she got Maddy to play a game of exploding snap. Vanessa came down smiling. Maddy gave her a look and raised a eyebrow.

"What's going on?" She asked, sensing something was about to happen.

"Well I'm going to show you something." Charlie played her part and gave Vanessa a confused look, desperately fighting for a straight face.

"Look" Vanessa took out the piece of parchment and said the password. The parchment sprung to life, saying "hello fellow mischief makers. Welcome to the key to pranks." Maddy looked at it.

"Is this like the..."

"Marauders Map? Yep it is, almost anyways. Its called Prankster's map" Vanessa announced smiling. From in the kitchen Harry and Kathy watched the children quietly.

"Maddy seems fair enough. Poor girl i feel sorry for her." Kathy said leaning against the counter, on which a freshly made sandwich lay.

"Yeah" Harry said, he still felt weird about a Malfoy being friends with his daughter. But judging by what Charlie'd told him Maddy had always faced that.

"Vanessa reminds me of Sirius so much" Kathy said going over to her husband an putting a hand on his shoulder.

"D'you think they could end up like..."

"Like the Marauders? No, Harry, time likes to fool with our minds. But it never repeats itself." Kathy smiled reassuringly at him and Harry knew she was right.

How they all -Maddy, Charlie, Alex, Vanessa, Adam and their parents plus the school stuff- managed to fit in the small station wagon was beyond belief, and a miracle that some of it could even fit in the trunk. The kids were crammed in the two back seats, Charlie, Maddy and Adam in one mixed with Silver's, Cyvus, and Lyra (Adam's owl) cages, and Alex and Vanessa in the back with Venus and most of the stuff.

They went all the way to Kings Cross in this manner, no one saying a word for it was too hot for the car had overheated in the heat that was left from summer blending into fall. They all practically jumped out of the car when they parked at the train station.

"D'you got the Map?" Charlie whispered to Vanessa. She nodded and pointed to her pocket of the hip hugger jeans. Charlie tied her hair into a ponytail in a effort to tame it, which was, of course, in vain, for her hair never was tame.

Well here it is. But... wait.. there's no platform 9 3/4 ... what the hell is goin on? Charlie stared wildly across the station as did Maddy. Vanessa was looking suspiciously between platforms 9 and 10.

"Dad" Charlie turned to Harry "where's the platform?" He smiled mysteriously and led them in-between nine and ten.

"Its through there." He spoke quietly, as he showed her the seemingly solid wall. She gave him a 'are you insane?' look and he laughed. "Just run through there and next thing you know your there. I'll come with you." Charlie stared at him.

Is he mental? she thought as she braced herself. No.. he's don't this before. Then they were running. The wall was coming closer and closer. God don't let me crash. She thought wildly as she squeezed her eyes closed.

When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in Kings Cross, but standing in front of a big scarlet steam engine. Harry smiled encouragingly at her and she looked up for a minute.

Above her head, an iron sign said "Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock" and as she turned about briefly she saw an old but, surprisingly, not rusted at all, iron archway saying "Platform Nine and Three Quarters." All around her the platform was crowded with students climbing in and out of the train, dragging their luggage, their owl cages, cat baskets or rat boxes. One boy in a corner was even displaying a beautiful garden snake to his friends impressively.

The noise was incredibly loud, yet not annoying, not yet anyway. There were many goodbyes, some laughing and joking, some sobs, hugs, kisses, and several hoots, mews and other animal noises.

Maddy and Vanessa appeared next, then Adam. She felt hands slip over her eyes and a scary like voice whisper in her ear "hello." She whirled round with great speed, ready to either slap or shriek, and let out a sigh of relief.

It was just Nick.

"God Nick, did you have to scare the bloody hell out of me?" She joked and he laughed.

"Yep, naturally. Where's Alex?"

"He'll be coming through any minute now."

Sure enough, a minute later Alex and his mom appeared.

"Some stupid muggle conductor stopped us and quizzed us." Charlie heard Alex mutter to Nick.

"C'mon Todd and Mike are waitin for us." He turned to Kathy.

"Bye mum. Bye dad, i gotta go, my friends are waitin." Their mom hugged him like she'd never let him go, "I gotta go, mum, ciao (AN: sounds like see ya) later" his voice sounded chocked and forced. Harry and him embraced and then bid each other goodbye then Adam, after a few minutes bid them goodbye and he too left.

"Mum" Charlie started as her mum hugged her too tightly, "Mum," she felt a odd lump start in her throat, "I gotta go now... the train's gonna leave." Her mum had tears in her eyes as she kissed Charlie goodbye and then her and her dad shared a warm embrace.

"You try not to get into too much trouble, and don't let anyone pick on ya, eh?" He said smiling not noticing the look that her mum shot him. She had to force her words, as Alex did earlier,

"sure dad." They gave Maddy and Vanessa goodbye hugs too, and Charlie could have sworn Maddy looked like she was having serious issues with tears trying to form.They met up with Vanessa's dad later and he hugged her goodbye and apologized for "being a stubborn git." and now were on the train searching desperately for a empty compartment.

"Hey in here" a voice said pulling Charlie into a compartment.

It was Alex. Nick, Todd and Mike, the boy Charlie had met twice in Diagon Alley, sat in the compartment, looking somewhat ill at ease.

The other two followed in and all three girls sat down. Charlie sat across from Mike, next to the window, Vanessa was across the seat from Alex -Charlie almost laughed at the look they shared- and Maddy, next to Nick.

"Nervous?" Mike whispered to her in the same voice caught between amusement and gentleness that Charlie seemed to like.

She shrugged, "aren't we all?" He smiled.

"So what do we talk about?" Vanessa asked.

"How about we play a game of matchmaker?" Mikes eyes glinted with the same light Charlie's did. He and Nick, Todd and Alex and became friends over the time between Diagon Alley and Platform 9 ¾ and he'd found out about Vanessa and Alex.

Suddenly as if they finally got it seeped into their heads, the other three got the same glint to their eyes.

"Who's first?" Maddy asked smiling.

"Hmmm... how's bout or little Alex here." Mike said teasingly.

"I know" Charlie said as Vanessa and Alex grew redder and redder.

"Vanessa" Maddy finished her smiling as evilly.

"Go on then!" Nick pushed Vanessa, who was next to him into the seat where Alex sat. They both turned redder than possible.

"Next is..." Todd started.

"Our new friend, Maddy" Mike said watching her turn a light shade of red.

"Hmm... wonder who. Can't give her to you Todd, Jinni'll be mad. Jinni's his girlfriend," Nick said smiling.

"Then she'll go to you, Nick!" Charlie said laughing as she pushed Maddy towards his seat. They both looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"So... you're next Mike." Alex declared finally breaking the trance Vanessa and him had been staring into each other. Mike smiled and would have protested, as it was only he and Charlie and that might not be fair to her, but his words weren't even produced.

"Well the only girl here's Charlie" Nick said as he pushed Charlie into Mikes seat. Incidentally, she tripped and landed on top of him. The two looked at each other and started laughing. Vanessa and Alex looked at each other and Maddy and Charlie caught the passion radiating between the two and rolled their eyes.

"Looks like our friends fancy each other" Mike whispered in her ear, laughter in his voice, and she laughed.

Just then the door opened and a boy already changed into his Hogwarts black robes with slicked back white blonde hair and icy cold blue eyes walked in. He was about 4'2" and flanked by two huge boys who were very tall for eleven year olds, about 5 feet or more, really and very thick (and looked very thick). It looked like they were his bodyguards.

"Malfoy" Charlie and Alex whispered at the same time, both their eyes turning hard as rock and equally icy cold.

"What d'you want, Jack?" Maddy's voice was no longer a soft and shy voice but now icy cold and had a bite to it. Charlie remembered what she'd said the day in Diagon Alley "...everyone hated me because of my name..." Well no wonder she hates him. Charlie thought. Malfoy -Jack, Maddy had called him- ignored her totally.

"My name is Jack Malfoy," he couldn't have said anything more proudly. "This is Crabbe and Goyle.

You, blood betraying mud blood lover, have no right to speak my name. You and your-" -he called her a word that made both Nick and Maddy's eyes blaze even worse. "Of a mother stopped being worthy of my name when you left. Your mother is worse than mud bloods, she is the dog excrement that stains peoples shoes." Maddy started to get up, she looked like someone had just spit on her face and then shoved it in mud, but Nick held her back gently. Actually, like Charlie and Mike, were holding each other back. Jack smirked smugly and Charlie wanted to wipe that stupid smirk right off his ugly little face. He then spotted Vanessa who looked already about to kill him.

"Such a beautiful girl like yourself shouldn't be around such jerks. You should be around sophisticated people like me." He lifted her up, avoiding a horible slap she aimed for his nose.

"My, my feisty little thing. Doesn't know what's good for her." He started to lower his lips to hers when suddenly in a blur he as on the ground clutching a bleeding nose. Alex jumped on him with the fury of a wildcat, aside from Crabbe and Goyle, no one made a move to pull him away and hurled Alex across the compartment.

In a split second Charlie, Mike, Nick, Maddy, Todd, Vanessa and Alex all were standing. The seven looked ready for war, their wands drawn like spears. Malfoy got up his whole face bruised and bloody.

"Now OUT or we'll force you out!" Charlie realized she along with Maddy had accompanied Alex in the threat, all three's voices growling like wolfs. Malfoy turned, since he was out numbered seven to three muttering, "You'll pay Potter, you'll pay."

"Oh go eat shit Malfoy" Alex called out after him.

Vanessa glared after Malfoy.

The tension in the room was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. After a minute of silence Vanessa rounded on Alex.

"Alex, you idiot why the hell'd you do that? He could have hurt you for Christ's sake!" She all but screamed he looked at her like she was crazed.

"Vanessa, he was trying t.. to-to rape you!" he stuttered not expecting that reaction.

"Yes, well you much more important than me! You're a Potter and I'm just a stupid little worthless Wood! I'm no reason to get you killed over Alex!" Alex grabbed her and shook her.

"I swear if you ever talk like that about yourself again I- I'll- I'll..." Vanessa glared at him.

"You'll do what?"

"Kill myself." He looked stubborn as her dad in a argument.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Would too" Vanessa frowned.

"Would not." Alex frowned slightly

"Why not?" Vanessa sighed.

"Because I won't let you." They glared at each other for a minute and then she noticed he was bleeding .

"Oh my God. Your hurt!" She said suddenly.

"Yeah Vanessa why don't you kiss it and make it better" Nick teased. Vanessa and Alex both blushed crimson "go on" Mike pushed her into him. Alex caught her just in time and both their lips met. Charlie laughed at the looks on their faces as they realized what was goin on.

"That's the way to do it" Nick said smiling.

"Hey Todd, you ought to know, any future snogging possible?" Mike teased ignoring the evil look Alex was giving him.

"Well, we'll find out wont we" Todd said laughing.

"Well, how's about a game of exploding snap?" Alex said desperately trying change the subject. After some teasing they finally agreed. Alex was like always great, but Maddy, Mike and Vanessa were pretty good rivals. But in the end, like always, he won the most.

Later the snack cart came by and they all bought something, and in-between them they had a few of everything. Charlie looked, between them they each had a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavored Beans.

"Hey," Nick said, "how's about we all eat a Bean at the same time and see who gets what."

"Sure" Charlie and Alex said at the same time.

"Ok then, at the count of three we'll eat on Nick said Todd started counting,

"Ok one ... two ... three." They all ate their Beans. In the end only Vanessa, Nick and Maddy were eating theirs.

"What'd you get?" Mike said as the other four stared at them enviously.

"Chocolate" Maddy said giving them a lop sided smile.

Vanessa laughed "coconut,"

"Pizza" Nick said, chewing happily, as the others gave them evil looks, "You?" he asked.

"Goblin blood" both Todd and Mike said.

"Dragon liver" Charlie muttered.

"Spinach" Alex groaned, frowning. Then a voice boomed throughout the train.

"We'll be at Hogwarts in a few minutes, please get changed and ready if you're not already. Leave all your things here, they will be brought up to the castle later."

Charlie and Maddy opened the door the same time as the other boys did and Alex laughed at the looks on their faces.

"No we didn't snog or anything. We just got changed." Charlie gave him a 'yeah right' look.

"We didn't do anything!" Vanessa said, indignantly.

"Sure you didn't" Mike said laughing. They continued on like this until they got to Hogwarts.

"Woah look" they heard a boy next to them breathe as they got out together. They all looked up as a gruff voice boomed out over them .

"Firs' years this way!" The seven of them knew who this was. They'd met him before. Hagrid. Despite his very scary appearance from his seven feet tall and black shaggy beard and hair, they knew he was really friendly.

"Firs' years this way, right, no more 'en four to a boat." He said as they all grouped around him and the boats that seemed to float on top of the water. Charlie Maddy and Vanessa got into one and instead of one of the other four boys joining them, they got a very unwelcome, greasy black haired, hook nosed girl who seemed to have a air of smugness about her. Charlie saw Maddy and her exchange glares.

"Maddy" she whispered "who is that?"

Maddy's voice had a definite bite to it and her eyes had hardened like stone.

"She's Kaly Snape, a impossible git that thinks she's better than everybody else cause her dad got killed fighting Voldemort's gang. But she doesn't seem to realize that for a time there he was one." She whispered in a cold, forced bite that would of scared Charlie had she not heard it before when that Malfoy git had invaded their compartment.

"Should've known looks just like him" Charlie saw Vanessa fighting back laughter. The girl, Kaly, looked down at them from her abnormally large nose and scowled.

"You must be a Potter" she said spitting the name out like it was poison. "Your brothers as ugly as your father is. Personally i think that he isn't worth even looking at. The slimy piece of.." Charlie would have beat the hell outta her had Vanessa not jumped up and lunged at Kaly before her.

Charlie sat there stunned as Vanessa planted a few well placed punches on Kaly's face. after a few minutes of this, both girls stood up breathing heavily. Vanessa had got a few good punches to her eye, but that was all. She pointed her wand at Kaly and muttered a spell. Suddenly Kaly made a choking noise and doubled over. She opened her mouth as if to puke but snails came out.

Both Charlie and Maddy watched, stunned as Kaly righted herself momentarily and pushed Vanessa hard. Neither Charlie nor Maddy had time to grab her and she fell over, seemingly in slow motion. Then there was a loud splash.

Vanessa was a great swimmer, but this had caught her off guard and both Charlie and Maddy grew panicked as she did not resurface.

The next moments were a blur.

Before Mike, Nick, or Todd could stop him, Alex had literally jumped into their boat, which rocked dangerously, and punched the crap outta Kaly (though he usually did not punch girls, this was a totally different thing). He reached into the water till it was up to his shoulder and finally felt her hand grasp his wrist and then heaved her up onto the boat and she sat there, momentarily stunned, looking between Alex and Kaly.

"What the hell'd you do that for?" He hissed when they got to dry land. Hagrid still looked worried even though they'd told him a alibi. ("This git jumped on her and then she tried to get her off. She fell out of the boat" Alex had said despite the girls -Vanessa, Charlie and Maddy- and the other three boys scandalized looks and cries of protest.)

"She called you a name that wasn't exactly the sweetest name in the world. I took up for you, and now you sound mad!" She hissed back.

He frowned, "what the hell we're you thinking? I'm mad because you're a beautiful and powerful witch and I'm just a rich snotty and powerless wizard and here you are acting like I'm a god. You could have got killed!" Vanessa scowled.

"I did it because i love you damn it! D'you mind! You're not snotty or powerless! You're one of the most humblest and nicest wizards I know and I love you!" Alex looked a bit embarrassed,

"I'm sorry. I love you too." But they were interrupted by a series of gasps and looked up.

Charlie looked at Vanessa an Alex fighting.

"They'd better say something to each other before i make them" she said to Maddy who just laughed.

"They will. Just give 'em some time."

Charlie was about to reply when several gasps made her look up and even then she had to look twice.

In font of them was, possibly, the biggest castle they'd ever seen.

"God it's huge" Alex whispered to Vanessa as they ran up to the other five, who were too busy gawking at it to shot some teases.

"Yep." Was all Vanessa could manage.

The purple of the dawning night looked beautiful against the now almost black castle in front of them. Candles shone out of several windows and the castle looked almost as welcoming as their homes.

"Beautiful ain't it?" Charlie heard Mike whisper behind her.

"Yeah, you seriously need to stop sneaking up on me, though." She joked.

Hagrid went up to two huge oak doors that were actually bigger than him and knocked three times.

A witch in emerald robes with her black hair with just starting gray streaks tied up into a tight bun, opened the door.

Her strict, yet welcoming blue eyes peered down at the first years from her glasses. Charlie immediately got the impression that this was not somebody to cross.

"Thank you Hagrid. I trust there was no problems." Her voice was sharp and strict Hagrid looked at the group of friends.

"Er.. no Professor Mc Gonnagal."

"Right then. Follow me, please" she said turning to the first years and leading them inside.

"Before you join the other students of the school for the start-of-term feast, you are going to be sorted into one of the four houses of Hogwarts; that is Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Whichever house you get sorted into shall be your home for the next of your seven years here. It will be your home, your family and you shall defend its honor.

"When you are good, you gain points, however, any rule-breaking" she paused to look at the seven friends then continued.

"Any rule-breaking and you will lose points.

"At the end of the year the house that earns the most points will win the House Cup. It is a great honor to the house that wins the Cup.

"The Sorting Ceremony is about to take place. I shall fetch you when its time, until then i suggest you smarten yourselves up a bit."

With that she turned around briskly and walked away.

"Wow seems stern don't she?" It was Maddy

"Yep, sure does." Charlie whispered back watching Vanessa and Alex.

"You'd better stop, some one will think you're obsessed" Maddy joked, "What d'you think this sorting things about?" she whispered, trying to conceal the nervousness starting to show its self to her. Charlie said nothing for a minute.

"I dunno. No one's ever said anything about it to me." She said, trying not to let her heart start yo-yoing up and down.

It was true, no one had ever told her about the sorting. She hoped it didn't mean they'd have to do spells, she didn't know any at all.

"What if they don't want me? No one wants a death eater's shunned daughter in school with their children."

Charlie smiled, "of course they want you. Dumbledore accepts any kid. Look, they put the horrible Malfoy here and he's a bullying git. If they didn't want you they wouldn't have sent you the letter." Maddy smiled and opened her mouth to reply but the Professor they had been brought in here with came in.

"Were ready for you now come along." She said leading them to a huge hall with four long tables in it. Seated at each one of them were students dressed in black robes. There was another table, much taller than that of the four below it. This table stretched from one end of the longer wall to its opposite. At it about thirty or more teachers sat, including Dumbledore Hagrid.

Suddenly silence took over the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall vanished for a few minutes then came back bringing with her a little four-legged stool and a hat probably the oldest and most patched that Charlie had ever seen perched lazily on the stool.

Suddenly the hat stirred slightly, and a small rip opened and the hat began to sing:

"Welcome young witches n' wizards, Ladies n' gents.

You come to learn magic,

To grow in its art.

But this is the step

that comes from your heart.

Into your head i shall look.

For I, you see, am much smarter than a book!

Now put me on and i shall see, in which house I'll put thee.

those of bravery, and those of strength,

like a lion,

Shall meet their home in Gryffindor.

Those who are clever and cunning

Those of the snake,

who shall achieve at any odds,

Then you my friend, belong in Slytherin.

The house of Hufflepuff,

the sweet and kind, they, like the badger,

will toil without complaint,

they are fair and soft spoken,

If you are these,

then i shall give you to Hufflepuff.

Then there are you, the wise,

If knowing is the aim of your life

Then you, my child are Ravenclaw

Now i end my song for now.

So don't be scared,

no, just put me on,

and I shall sort you in one of the four."

The hat ended its song and The Great Hall burst into applause.

The Hat bowed to the four tables, then it stood still.

"That's all we have to do, wear a hat? How easy!" Vanessa said in a whisper making her way to the others with Alex by her side.

They didn't notice the looks the other five were giving them, or that they were grasping each other's hand.

Charlie looked to the Gryffindor table and saw Tasia, Kat, Belle Wood, Issy, and Adam sitting at the Gryffindor table. They all waved at them and then Mc Gonnagal spoke again.

"Now, when i call your name you will step out of line, come up to the stool and place the Hat onto your head. Then you shall be sorted."

She then held up a long roll of parchment, her eyes moving from row to row under her glasses perched comfortably on her nose.

"Abbot, Sarah!" She called out. A girl with sandy-colored hair braided into a long silky braid and bangs that nearly covered a pair of soft brown eyes came forward, timidly. Then the hat fell over her eyes and after a minute the rip opened again, "Hufflepuff!" it called out.

Then was "Avery, Timothy!"

Charlie suppressed a shiver at his last name, she had heard of them, used to be death eaters.

He, of course, like all of his family got "Slytherin!" after only a second on the stool.

He grinned widely at his friends, and went to the Slytherin table.

After "Arisin, John" became a Ravenclaw, Todd was next (Todd Brown was his full name.) After a minute on the stool, the hat called out "Gryffindor!" He practically ran to the Gryffindor table.

"Butcher, Amanda" was in Slytherin, then Bowing, Aleshia, was a Hufflepuff.

After a few more names, it was finally Mike's turn. After only a few seconds, the hat announced "Gryffindor!" He went to the table and sat next to Todd.

Then it was Nick's turn.

Like Todd and Mike he was placed into Gryffindor. Finally as if the minutes crawled by they reached "m."

"Malfoy, Jack." He went forward, an air of importance about him, an impertinently smug look on his face. He knew where he'd be and the little shit was proud of it. Immediately the Hat shouted "Slytherin!" There was a pause and then. "Madison, Malfoy." Maddy was white as a ghost and shaking like a leaf, Charlie and Vanessa gave her encouraging looks and she smiled nervously.

She took a deep breath as the Hat fell over her eyes and jumped slightly as the small voice started.

"Well, well another Malfoy. But a very, very different one i see. Well... your kind are rare, here too. You certainly have many qualities that differ greatly from your family, Friendship, loneliness, far too much loneliness for a child of your age. You can control your anger rather well, a trait quite rare in children of your age. No hatred at all, but intense emptiness. A rather deep need for affection, too. Much to give, limitless loyalty and a very great strength of mind. Hufflepuff would be good for you. But... no. Seeing what's written all over your heart, young Madison, you'll go to Gryffindor!"

Maddy sighed and smiled. She went over to the Gryffindor table quickly and sat down, ignoring the looks Jack was shooting at her.

After a while Charlie heard her start on the P's.

"Potter, Alex!" Alex walked shakily up to the stool and sat on it.

"Hmm, another Potter, let's see. You certainly live up your family's tradition, dear boy. A quick mind, hot temper, and a very strong sense of fairness ... not very keen on studying, though, but a surprising ability to understand. And a strong will to prove your self and to stand apart from the rest. Great amount of courage there, yes, its very noticeable in you, demanding to be seen.

"You very well could be sorted into another house than Gryffindor. You could do great things even in old Slytherin, you know, but it would go against something that is inside you ... deeply rooted in you're blood, soul, and heart ... So then, young Alex, like your future love shall be, it'll be GRYFFINDOR for you!"

Alex opened his eyes as the Hat came off his head.

Future love... does it mean Vanessa? Of course it does she is my love! He realized he'd already sat down next to Mike who was congratulating him.

"So what'd it say?" he asked. Before Alex knew what he was doing he blurted it out.

"That my love would be in Gryffindor." They all smiled and joked and then Charlie's name was called.

Charlie took a deep breath and steadied her shaking hands as she walked up to the stool.

"Well, well... a second Potter... twins, eh?" Charlie jumped slightly; almost yelping in surprise, "Now, now don't be afraid, i don't bite. Well then you are extremely difficult. Strong, definitely brave and noble. You know what your strengths are and how best to use them to your advantage. You can be a great leader, you know, its right there in your heart. You're also very sarcastic and blunt, not that that's necessarily a bad thing. You've got a short fuse, and have quite a temper when that fuse is lit. But you know how to control it for the most part, you'd be a good Slytherin, you know, like your brother and father."

'Oh please not Slytherin!' Charlie thought desperately to herself.

"Not Slytherin? You know you could fit very well into that house. No? Well then, young Charlie, you'll just have to be a GRYFFINDOR!" It shouted the last part. Charlie immediately relaxed and her grip on the stool, which was beginning to hurt, loosened and she took a deep breath. She stood up and walked shakily over to her brother.Soon it was only Vanessa, three other boys and two girls. The Snape girl had went to Slytherin, of course.

Then "Wood, Vanessa!" She was, perhaps, the calmest one of all of them. Or at least she was faking it out horribly good. She put on a indifferent face and clenched her mouth shut, willing herself to be calm. This was a gift she'd had when she was younger. Though she never really used it, right now, she decided, was a time to use it.

Then there was the little voice speaking into her ear.

"You are very complicated my child. Much like your father was. Ah, my, my...very smart, you are. Maybe Ravenclaw. But, no a very trustworthy and loyal friend i see you are... Hufflepuff would fit you perfectly. But, no alas, a very great bravery in you're heart... Maybe Gryffindor. My child you are very difficult indeed. But your true love shall be in Gryffindor so i suppose it'll have to be... Gryffindor!"

Vanessa jumped slightly as it called out her houses name and she looked up. No one was clapping harder than her friends. And none of them was clapping harder than Alex. She smiled as she walked over to them and sat between Alex and Charlie.

My true love. She thought happily.

After the three boys -Jack Wundlowe, Patrick Xavier and Eric Zagsby- went to Hufflepuff -Charlie knew by the gleams in their eyes they would not be perfect saintly Hufflepuffs. Two girls, twins, - Lavender and Alexis Ziggs - got into Gryffindor, Dumbledore stood up and silence fell over the Great Hall.

He beamed at them as if nothing could of possibly made him more happy than them being there.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling merrily. "I know you're all starving, so I'd suggest starting the feast at once. Now, I've got only two words: eat up!"

Right in front of their eyes like a flash, dozens of dishes appeared on the tables. They were filled with steaks, chips, pastas of all sorts, fried potatoes, many different kinds of salads and salad dressings, widely diverse vegetables, hams, sauces of all kinds, chicken, spaghetti, mashed potatoes? and even mint humbugs in a small dish. Charlie looked at them, one eyebrow raised.

"They give us them every year." Adam said following her bewildered gaze. "Reckon somebody must like 'em." Charlie stared at them and then caught Maddy and Vanessa's eyes. They all looked down hurriedly, to keep from laughing.

A girl in front of her with long sandy-brown hair and dancing soft blue eyes was talking to one of the girl twins. Charlie thought it was Alexis. She caught a snag of the conversation.

"Did you hear?" it was the sandy haired girl, she sounded Irish. "Lupin and Black are teaching again." It was the twin.

"...Dad said Lupin was the best Defense teacher he ever had..."

"...mum said Black was great at teaching anigmagis lessons." -Charlie remembered her dad had said it was added on in his sixth year. The sandy haired girl looked up at her.

"Oh hi... you're Harry Potters daughter?" Charlie nodded, hoping it wasn't another Potter fan club.

"My names Amber Finnigan my dad knew yours. This is Alexis Ziggs -you are Alexis, right?" The girl nodded.

"Nice to meet you." Charlie said smiling.

Amber seemed rather nice, but Alexis seemed oddly distant. She introduced Maddy, Vanessa and the boys. To her surprise she didn't even seem caught off- guard or suspicious about Maddy. Though Alexis seemed to look at her edgily, as if daring Maddy to speak to her.

"I knew you weren't anything like Malfoy" Amber said with a kind smile. "Just something told me." They talked like this until the main course then dessert melted away and Dumbledore stood up.

"I shall take this time to introduce four new teachers this term." Charlie looked up and caught Remus and Sirius. They both waved and Sirius winked. She smiled and turned back to Dumbledore,

"Professor Lupin and Black are back. Professor Lupin shall be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Professor Black shall be teaching Anigmagis Training. Which is now open to all years." Both teachers got very warm applauds, even from the Slytherins, except Jack Malfoy and his little gang.

"Now before I introduce the other two, I would like to tell you about a new class. As we know many of you have special dancing, and musical talents. We have made a class to honor those talents. It's called the Dancing and Singing class. You shall know if you're in it or not when your class timetables are handed out tomorrow. So now after that bit of news is over, here are the teachers of the class. Yes there are two.Tamora and Johnny Michlie, they are both married." They both stood up and were greeted with applause as Remus and Sirius were.

Tamora was short and skinny with long silky brown hair and soft, sparkling brown eyes. Johnny was somewhat like her. Very tall with brown-blonde hair and the same soft, sparkling brown eyes. They both seemed anxious and nervous, but Charlie couldn't blame them. All new teachers probably were.

"So" Nick said to Vanessa as they ate the last of the dessert. "What did the Hat say?" Vanessa meant not to say anything about her future lover and all, but some how she found herself blurting it out and looked confused and embarrassed.

Alex and Vanessa hadn't realized they'd put a truth charm on them.

Pretty soon they were being shepherded to their dorms.

"First years follow me" a prefect called above the noise. They trudged up many flights of stairs, on the way up Mike gave a very annoying tiny knight that challenged everyone to a duel a very descriptive use off cuss words. Which caused a very good imagery, having to do with the knight's sword and a very personal part, which caused a small wave of giggles to spread through the wave of first years.

The knight to challenged him to a duel, and called him a "scandalizing cauwlkon." Charlie decided that phrase was best left uninterrupted. After a while, which included climbing more steps than Charlie had ever climbed in her life, they stopped in front of a portrait of a rather fat woman, in a silk pink dress with lace on it.

Charlie looked at it apprehensively, not wanting to be the next to get on with a annoying picture.

"Password?"

"Ridgeback" the Prefect replied lazily. The picture sung open and the first years stared in amazement.

The Gryffindor Common Room was big and round. Inside of it was a warm fireplace crackling merrily. Arm chairs, sofas, chairs, and desks adorned the room. Decorating its walls were many portraits like the fat lady. The room felt warm and welcoming. Vanessa's eyes flickered over the room and fell on a huge book shelf that looked like a miniature library and couldn't help but marvel at the accumulation of various assorted books.

The prefect cleared her throat to attract their attention.

"Girls dormitories are to the left, boys to the right. Your things have already been brought up." Charlie yawned as the sudden sleepiness had overcame her. They all trudged up to their appointed dormitories.

Vanessa, Maddy and Charlie shared the dormitories with Amber and Alexis. Charlie, for some strange reason, really didn't like her. She seemed somewhat stuck up. Alexis chose the bed closest to the wall, Vanessa was in the next bed, then Maddy then Charlie and Amber got the one next to the window.

The room was big enough, the stairs that lead to the common room lay in the middle of it and the beds were positioned around them. They all fell asleep rather quickly, though none of them were used to the place. There were over two-hundred stairs at Hogwarts, loads of secret rooms, corridors, secret passageways, millions of class rooms that seemed to move daily. There were doors that would open only if they wanted to, or if you did something to them, doors that liked to lock people in them -one of the bathrooms had one.

Doors that would appear one day and disappear later, some would open onto different passages or classrooms, some opened only one day a week, or a special hour a day, and some even just pretend to be a door and not open at all. Those were the worst. Like the stairs, doors moved, too. On day a door would open to a Charms class, the next day it could open to a Transfiguration Class.

Then there were the stairs.

Staircases moved without warning. There were playful stairs that liked to imitate stairs. Stairs you had to avoid or you'd fall through a first year Hufflepuff, Annabelle Amos, had already broke her arm (though not uncommon for accidents on the first day to the faculty, to some students it a tiny bit odd that some one could have a accident their first day at Hogwarts).

But the worst by far was Peeves.

Peeves the Poltergeist.

Peeves would pull the carpet out from your feet, come up behind you silently and suddenly scream bloody hellish screams in your ears, he would wriggle his fat little toes and break out in very insulting songs, and much more. He only listened to The Bloody Baron, the resident Slytherin ghost, very few professors (Dumbledore he mockingly did) and sometimes the caretaker. Argus Filch and his God forsaken horrible cat, Miss Nox.

Every single student, from first years to seventh years and even some teachers, hated that cat with a passion.

Some would dare others to kick her -but, of course, no one had yet. She was a ugly skinny yellow tabby with huge golden eyes and Lynx like ears.

She was silent and always on the look out for mis-behaving students. When she would find one she would rush away to Fletch who would be there in seconds, his beady black eyes shining down over his long hook nose -that nose was seriously challenging the Snape girls ugly hook nose- at the unfortunate student. He took no mercy on any house or the student, no one wanted to really meet his wrath.

And after you managed the feat of actually avoiding the playful step, avoiding Peeves, Filch, or his cat, and avoiding moving staircases. And not getting tricked by doors or getting completely lost. Then there were the classes. They were enough without the maze that was Hogwarts.

Their very first class was Potions, and, unfortunately they had it with the Slytherins. The classroom was situated down in one of the dungeons, cold and dark and dreary, had the professor, Professor Ivus, not looked so strict, Charlie could have found it a good sleeping class. But she wasn't sure she could have even thought of sleeping "peacefully" anyways.

There were thick volumes of numerous books pilled on huge bookshelves that could rival those in the Gryffindor common room. Books lay in dusty corners while spider's webs found their way weaving up the wall like ivy on a house.

There was on main chandelier over the center of the room. Its eerie candle lights shone here and there over the dark room. Carefully labeled and assorted jars of animal and various other things that Charlie didn't even want to know about lay in the pickled jars pilled on assorted shelves.

No one dared breath and everyone, save a few smug looking Slytherins, looked around in mixed shock, horror, amusement, and curiousness. In the front of the class room was a boiling sleek shiny black cauldron, shifting from a plum purple, to wine red, to blood red, to sunset red, to a earthly brown, to a beautiful royal blue slowly.

"You are here to learn" she told the students in a rather unpleasantly cold as ice and sharp voice. "I am here to teach you. I will not tolerate any uproars in this class. I speak, you listen, you write down. You only speak when I ask you. Is that clear? If anyone in this class does not agree wit these rules the may get up and leave. I, for one will not miss them." Nobody even breathed, much less moved.

Wow sure knows how to control a class don't she? Charlie thought, trying to look interested.

"You shall not get any 'breaks' in this class. Either you can keep up with the class, or you can, like i said before, leave. It's no lose to me, only you. Tomorrow i will give you a test to see your ability level. I have given you a warning, i shall no from now on. I suggest you study hard, for i do not cut slack."

"She's a hag" Amber said as they left the room.

"I dunno which is worse, her or the room." Lavender (Alexis' twin) said shivering.

"And to think we have to have that teacher in that room with the Slytherins. They're determined to make Potions a living hell." Charlie said throwing a contemptuous look back at the dungeon room.

"So" Vanessa said "who's got what next?"

"Singing and dancing class" they all said at the same time.

Amber laughed "well at least we'll be together, oh hey Charlie looks like Alex and his friends are there."

They stopped outside of a long hall and looked by the door and looked. Sure enough, with a few other kids from each house -even, to their disgust, Slytherins- Alex, Mike, Todd and Nick stood there, looking at a pair of Slytherin girls.

"Are they gonna do what i think they are?" Maddy said, Charlie laughed.

"I think so, if I'm thinking what you're thinking."

A few seconds later the girl on the right let out a shriek and pointed to the girl on the left's hair. Charlie immediately started laughing and after they had figured it out, the rest followed suit.

Both girls, now shrieking like mad veela, had spiders and spider's webs in their silky white blonde hair. There was a minute of just laughter then two tiny flashes of blue light and the spiders vanished.

Sirius and Lupin stood there, equal amusement on their faces. Then they smiled and turned around.

Charlie thought she saw Sirius wink at Alex and give him thumbs up.

A few minutes later the two teachers came there -by that time the shrieking was over with- and let them into a room.

The room was big like the potions room, but it wasn't dark and dusty.

A small fire place stood in the corner of the room, its fire crackling merrily. As it was still warm and Fall coolness hadn't took over yet, the fire was enchanted to put out cool air. A rather large chandelier hung on the ceiling casting light below. Around the room was smaller versions of armchairs and regular school desks, Muggle kind. Charlie, Vanessa, Maddy, Amber, Lavender, Alexis and the boys sat in chairs and desks in the back.

The two teachers stood in front of the class rooms and waited for them to all sit down. Professor Tamora Michlie took attendance. Unlike Professor Ivus, who said something smart after every name, she just called them out.

After that she spoke in a gentle yet strict voice.

"This is your Dancing and Singing class. Every week you trade off between dancing and singing. I will be the singing professor and professor Johnny will be your dancing one. You have been chosen for this class because either you have natural talent, or you want to learn. This class is not like your usual classes. There is no passing or failing technically. All you have to do is show up and do what we tell you. No body here will be favored for talent, so no one should expect it.

"If you behave and try then this class should be fun," she continued, "Now you will be divided into partners of two. These partners will be for both parts of the class, starting with singing. I will let you choose your partner, they must be one of the opposite sex though. However, if it becomes a problem. Or if one person or more has no partner, I'll choose."

After that she let them go to choose their partners.

Like everyone thought Alex and Vanessa ended up together. Maddy paired up with Nick and Charlie with Mike. Amber and Todd paired up and Alexis paired up with someone in Hufflepuff and Lavender got a Ravenclaw boy.

As soon as everyone had chose a partner, the bell rang to signify classes end.

In the days that followed they quickly found out Vanessa was the best in Singing and Dancing class, well just singing so far anyways.

She was also the best at Charms and Transfiguration.

The first day it was turning a needle into a match. Hers was perfect, Charlie's was a match with very pointy edges. By dint of concentration Maddy's had turned into a rather metal like one. They were the only ones to get that far.

In Charms they'd made feathers fly. Alex and Vanessa's had rose three feet. Charlie and Mikes had rose pretty good. And Maddy and Nick's had, only to burst into blue flames after a moment. Flitwick had said something about saying the spell wrong.

They were all good in Flying class, well, except Alexis, who ended up with a broken jaw and a broken broom, but she had been good at Herbology and, miraculously, Potions. That day they were starting Defense and Anigmagus Training as well as Dancing classes.

Anigmagus Training was first that day, then Singing and Dancing, Potions, D.A.D.A., then Charms. That day was also Quidditch Practice, Charlie was trying out for Seeker, Alex and Vanessa were for Beaters.

"D'you think you'll make it?" Vanessa asked Charlie as they walked to Anigmagus Training, she just shrugged.

"Hopefully. There's some good people trying out though. But it's worth a shot anyways."

They sat in the same group of nine in the back of the room again. Charlie noticed it looked like Vanessa and Alex were holding hands.

"Hey" Amber said "you hear 'bout the contest?" They all shook their heads

"What is it?" Vanessa asked.

"Its for singing class. Takes place next week. They decide who wins the next day, you can sing whatever you want." She showed them the poster with flashing colored words.

They stuffed it into Mikes book bag as Sirius came in, wearing black teachers robes, his wand in his belt.

"Now I'm here to teach you Anigmagus Training. This art is complicated and difficult.

Far more difficult than Transfiguration. It won't be an easy thing, but if you pay some attention to classes, everything will, hopefully, just be fine. I'll tell you right now, this won't be a over night thing. It might take you years, you might never learn it. some of you might actually learn it quite fast for witches and wizards.

"This used to be illegal for children, but when our former Minister, Fudge" Charlie thought she heard a bitter resentment in his voice for a second but he continued, "When he left office, Arthur Weasley was hired by Dumbledore. He changed the Anigmagus rule, to where if children can learn it, they get registered.

"Now then, like your Singing and Dancing Class, this does not have passing or not passing. But levels. This is Beginners level. There are even some older students here. If you're very good for your level, you go up to the next level. We have monthly quizzes to see who goes to what level.

Many of you will probably stay at this level. Some might move up. Either way, we start out with theories, as that's the easiest part. Although none of it's easy." They all took out their parchment and quills.

After a introduction like that, everybody was interested.

"Now." He started "the first thing you need to know is that anigmagis aren't affected by werewolves, in their Anigmagus state."

Vanessa thought she saw Maddy pale a little at the mention of werewolves. But the next second she looked normal, so she pushed it away and began copying notes.

The next few days were a blur, Quidditch tryouts, the classes and everything else going on. Tuesday -three days before the competition- Prof. Tamora told them that, to see their singing ability, she'd have them one by one come into a room and sing.

She called a Ravenclaw boy who came out a few minutes later positively beaming. After a few more students including Alex and Mike, Vanessa was called.

She got up, her face was set, and she walked in coolly.

"Ok" professor Tamora said, "think of a song and sing it." Vanessa thought a minute and then opened her mouth. Each note came out like a beautiful waterfall.

"Baby, I'm so into you

You've got that something, what can I do

Baby, you spin me around, oh

The earth is moving, but I can't feel the ground

Every time you look at me

My heart is jumping, it's easy to see

Loving you means so much more

More than anything I ever felt before

You drive me crazy

I just can't sleep

I'm so excited, I'm in too deep

Crazy, but it feels alright

Baby thinking of you keeps me up all night

Tell me, you're so into me

That I'm the only one you will see

Tell me I'm not in the blue, oh

That I'm not wasting

My feelings on you

Loving you means so much more

More than anything I ever felt before

You drive me crazy

I just can't sleep

I'm so excited, I'm in too deep

Crazy, but it feels alright

Baby thinking of you keeps me up all night

crazy, I just can't sleep

I'm so excited, I'm in too deep

Crazy, but it feels alright

Every day and every night

You drive me crazy

I just can't sleep

I'm so excited, I'm in too deep

Crazy, but it feels alright

Baby thinking of you keeps me up all night

You drive me crazy

I just can't sleep

I'm so excited, I'm in too deep

Crazy, but it feels alright

Baby thinking of you keeps me up all night

Baby thinking of you keeps me up all night"

Prof. Tamora looked impressed when she ended the song.

"I must say that you're one of the best singers I've heard so far." She sounded dumbstruck.

Vanessa blushed lightly "thank you." She went out beaming like she'd won 50000 galleons. Charlie was next.

Vanessa walked out and smiled at Alex and sat down next to him and leaned next to him.

"That was for you." He smiled and leaned down and kissed her softly.

"Thank you" he whispered.

Charlie stood up and almost sat back down as an enormous dizzy spell shot out at her at full speed.

jeez calm down she thought they wont kick you out. Her voice was beautiful, according to her family and friends, but according to muggle choir teacher, it was too ungraceful or something.

But that was the way she liked it.

And, after all, her choir teacher had let the girl with the most horrible voice in, so she didn't exactly have good senses.

She set her jaw and walked in.

if i suck, at least i tried she thought laughing inwardly.

She walked into the small room and stood there. Prof. Tamora came in after her.

"All you have to do is pick a song and sing it." She said and Charlie thought a minute. She opened her mouth and heard her own voice coming out. It wasn't exactly as beautiful as her moms or Vanessa's, it was just... unique.

"You with the sad eyes

Don't be discouraged

Oh I realize

It's hard to take courage

In a world full of people

You can lose sight of it all

And the darkness, inside you

Can make you feel so small

But I see your true colors

Shining through

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors

True colors are beautiful,

Like a rainbow

Show me a smile then,

Don't be unhappy, can't remember

When I last saw you laughing

If this world makes you crazy

And you've taken all you can bear

You call me up

Because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors

Shining through

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors

True colors are beautiful,

Like a rainbow

So sad eyes

Discouraged now

Realize

When this world makes you crazy

And you've taken all you can bear

You call me up

Because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors

Shining through

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors

True colors, true colors

Cos there's a shining through

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors, true colors

True colors are beautiful,

Beautiful, like a rainbow."

Professor Tamora smiled, "that used to be one of my favorite songs. It was beautiful." She said smiling encouragingly.


	6. Chapter 6

1A week later Vanessa was getting ready, as she'd entered the contest. Everyone was sure she'd win. She was the only Gryffindor to enter. There was three Slytherins, two Hufflepuffs and five Ravenclaws, all girls.

"Vanessa you'll do fine" Amber reassured her.

"Yeah you look great" Charlie started and Maddy finished her "and you sing great."

Vanessa smiled "thanks guys."

Vanessa was wearing a dark purple knee length skirt that flowed outwards losely, and a long sleeved scoop necked shirt a in a purple that was a few shades lighter then the skirt. She was wearing black eyeliner, but that was the only makeup she wore. On her feet were thick dark purple platforms that made her look even taller, though she was already tall for her age.

Her sapphire eyes shone like diamonds and Charlie knew she'd win.

They went down to the Great Hall where the contest was being held and Charlie, Maddy, Amber, Alexis and the boys sat down in the front row. After two Slytherins and a Ravenclaw Vanessa was called. She opened her mouth and the beautiful notes spilled out.

"if i could grant you one wish

i wish you could see the way you kiss.

I love watching you baby, when you're me crazy.

I love the way you, love the way you love me.

(The way you laugh and breathe and smile.

When you touch me, drive me wild)

there's nowhere else id rather be.

To feel the way i feel with your arms around me.

(I melt and spin and fall again)

i only wish you could see the way you love me

(love me)

whoa, oh, oh, the way you love me.

It's not right, it's not fair.

What you're missing over there.

Someday I'll find a way to show you,

just how lucky I am to know you.

I love the way you,

love the way you love me.

(The way you laugh and breathe and smile.

When you touch me, drive me wild)

there's nowhere else id rather be.

To feel the way I feel with your arms around me.

(I melt and spin and fall again)

I only wish you could see the way you love me

(love me)

Whoa, oh, oh, the way you love me.

You're the million reasons why there's love reflecting in my eyes.

I love the way you,

love the way you love me.

(The way you laugh

and breathe and smile.

When you touch me,

drive me wild)

there's nowhere else id rather be.

To feel the way I feel with your arms around me.

(I melt and spin and fall again)

I only wish you could see the way you love me

(love me)

whoa, oh, oh, the way you love me.

The way love me

(love me)

whoa oh, oh,

the way you love me..."

She finished and the Great Hall exploded into applause way more than they had for he others yet.

Vanessa walked off the small stage that was erected in the center of the Great Hall.

"That was for you." She whispered to Alex sitting down between Charlie and him.

"Thanks" he said and they were probably about to kiss but then it was the last girls turn.

Afterwards Prof. Tamora walked up behind a small podium facing the students.

"Everyone that has entered and sung has done miraculously. Now we, the teachers involved, have listened closely to you eleven. We will even it down to five now. And when the choosing day comes, one of those five will be picked. So here are the five." She paused a moment and took out a piece of parchment,

"These are the five."

Vanessa as well as the other eight held their breath and crossed their fingers.

"Ashley Nott, Veronica Avery," the two Slytherins beamed their ugly grins as she went on. "Jessica and Ailcia Primross" two Ravenclaws smiled and blushed, "And Vanessa Wood."

It took the nine, including Vanessa, a whole minute to register this. Then they all burst at the same time with congratulations to Vanessa and such.

On the way out of the Great Hall Mike and Nick both snuck behind Alex and Vanessa and pushed them into a kissing embrace. The former two broke out running before Vanessa and Alex could register it.

That night after almost all the Gryffindors had gone to bed and the four boys had snuck off to do their own bit of mischief, four girls snuck into the common room.

"Should we ask Alexis if she wants to come?" Amber asked in a voice just barely above a whisper. Charlie answered in the same tone.

"No remember last time we tried to do something she chickened out?" Amber nodded after minute.

"So where are we goin?" Maddy asked from underneath Charlie's invisibility cloak, Vanessa was under hers with Amber.

"Er... the kitchens" Vanessa replied after a minute.

Charlie heard a bit of shuffling and a whispered bit of words and guessed Vanessa had brought out the Pranksters Map.

"Ok, Charlie, Maddy I'll tell you if there's someone coming. You go up to the common room or split, depending on where we are. Me and Amber'll be either next to you or behind you."

They were now in the hallway and heading down the stairs. The Fat Lady resumed her sleeping and they ignored a bossy picture asking what they were doing up at that time of night.

"Crap Fletch's down there by the kitchens. What's he doin down there?" Charlie heard Vanessa let out a few choice words then resume walking.

"We'll have to take the back way." She continued, as they had discovered it last week on the Marauders Map and added it to their map. They quickly and with some difficulty changed onto a shifting staircase, which meant temporarily deserting the cloaks. After they had them back on and were all on the same staircase they continued.

From the look in their eyes and the equal gleam Charlie felt almost content.

We must be naturals. She thought as she watched out for any teachers or Fletch. Natural pranksters, at least. As their footsteps gradually slowed down and they maneuvered from hallway to hallway, they felt more at ease.

They came to a halt in a long dimly light corridor. Pictures of different foods adorned the walls as they did in the regular kitchen hallway. The beautiful scents of food wafted through out the corridor and into their noses.

They started, now faster as if driven by the scent of the food, or by a unseen force, down the corridor. It was a miracle none of them tripped or anything. They stopped abruptly in front of a rather big picture. It was a perfect match to the one in the main corridor, so they had to tickle the pear. Charlie reached up and tickled it and after a moment the picture moved slowly out of the way.

"God i love those houseelfs." Vanessa said as they walked up a staircase, book bags loaded with food and stuff.

"Which part, the fact they give you food, or they give you whatever you want." Charlie joked, almost tripping on the hem of the invisibility cloak.

"Both" Vanessa replied in a whisper. A meow could be heard in front of them and they froze.

"Mrs. Nox" Maddy and Amber said at the same time. The cat stood right in front of them, and, apparently, could see through invisibility cloaks.

Then they heard Fletch's raspy breathing.

"Run!" Vanessa hissed and they took off. Charlie tripped on the cloak, as running under a cloak was not the best way to run, and they flung it off. Vanessa and Amber were nowhere to be seen. They couldn't even hear them.

"Damn it" Charlie said as they both slowed down, "We must've split up when we started running."

"Where are we?" Maddy said looking around.

Charlie looked up and realized they were nowhere near where they should have been.

Apparently they'd run right onto a shifting staircase.

They now stood in a long dimly light corridor with a few rooms on either side. None of which was classrooms. One of the doors stood slightly ajar and the dim light from a chandelier running out of light shone through the crack.

A mirror like thing stood near a wall and Charlie stared at it in disbelief.

"No way." She breathed heading towards the room, Maddy right behind her.

"What is it Charlie?"

"The Mirror of Erised. My dad told me about it. I didn't know it was still here. It's a mirror that reflects your deepest desires." Maddy just stared at it in disbelief.

Before she could look up Charlie was in front of the mirror. She was smiling slightly.

"What d'you see?" She asked, the curiosity overwhelming her. Charlie looked at her and smiled.

"I see myself as Quidditch captain, with the Gryffindor House Cup. My whole family's there with me. Even my grandparents."

If this subject bothered Charlie, she didn't show it.

"You try." Maddy frowned, but stepped in front of the mirror. She stood there, normal, as she was now, with the full moon behind her. Her mum was behind her smiling proudly, none of the haunted, distant look was in her pretty eyes and face, and a nice looking house was behind them.

"How about you?" Charlie asked after a minute.

"I see my mum and me. We're standing in front of a new house at night." She paused a minute and added quietly, "and I'm normal." Charlie frowned but didn't ask her to explain.

It must've been hell for her. She thought watching as Maddy stepped back.

Charlie looked around the corridor as they walked back down it.

"This is a fifth floor corridor. Damn hold on." She said taking off her book bag and messing around in it for a few minutes. She sat up and produced a piece of parchment. "Knew we'd probably need it. I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good." Letters sprawled out on the map.

Moony Wormtail Padfoot and Prongs, Mssr.s of Mischief, present the Marauders Map.

"Yep." Charlie said looking at it. "Fifth floor corridor. Looks like Vanessa and Amber found their way back to the common room." They started back in silence at first, trying not to make any noise under the cloak, but as they neared the Gryffindor Common Room Charlie turned to Maddy.

"Hey" she said "lets not tell them about the mirror 'till later. I got a surprise for them." Maddy laughed.

"Sure" she said as they got to the portrait. Charlie wiped the map and stuck it in her pocket.

"So where were you?" She asked Vanessa and Amber before they could ask them. Leaning forward, her eyes gleaming like two candle sticks.

"We found the Slytherin Common Room."

The week passed almost uneventfully, except for the pranks Alex and his friends were putting off. Especially on the Slytherins. And the fact that Vanessa won the contest. They had a quiz in Anigmagus Training, Amber, Vanessa, Charlie, Maddy, and Alex and Mike had went to higher levels along with two Ravenclaws. All of them on level three. Alexis had went up to level two. Making three classes she was good at.

Now it was Saturday. Maddy was looking a bit off, all pale and tired.

"Maddy you ok?" Charlie finally asked before they went to the Great Hall for supper. She smiled and nodded

"I'm fine." Charlie frowned but didn't ask. Meanwhile Snape's girl was being a total brat.

She'd hexed Vanessa when she wasn't looking, which wound Vanessa up in the Hospital Wing for a day and a night, she was out now and they, along with some help from the boys, had got her good. Or were about to.

The Slytherins entered, looking smug as ever.

"Morons" Charlie heard Maddy whisper loud enough for the closest one to hear and had to try hard to not laugh.

"You're not earning fan mail, Madds." She joked, calling Maddy by the nickname the boys had given her, as the Slytherins took their seats.

"Neither are you." It was Amber

"So?" she said, "its supposed to happen when she drinks it." Vanessa nodded. Alex came in after a few minutes.

"Drinks should be brought up any minute now." Sure enough., Slytherins goblets filled.

"Where's Alexis?" Charlie said and Vanessa frowned.

"Hospital wing. She didn't miss the playful stair. Got a broken arm. Too bad Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let her come down." Before Charlie could reply a great SQUAWK! filled the hall.

Everyone turned to Snape, she sat rigid and opened her mouth. Another SQUAWK filled the room. Everyone, even a few Slytherins, burst out laughing as she sprouted chicken feathers. She jumped onto the table and started doing a chicken dance, singing the anthem to Barney, a muggle kids show.

"God this is too good!" Vanessa said gasping for breath.

"Priceless" Alex said wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"We need a camera" Maddy said laughing "this is something to remember forever."

"I think every one will remember it, Maddy. Especially Snape and her bunch." Charlie said.

After a minute Dumbledore stood up, letting out a small chuckle. He silenced them and took the spell off. He said some words and dismissed them. Charlie thought she saw him wink at them.

After a minute she realized they weren't following the Gryffindors, but the Slytherins. Vanessa threw the invisibility cloak over them, as Charlie's was in the dorm.

"What..." Maddy started but Vanessa stopped her.

"D'you wanna find out the password or not?" She whispered going up to the first Slytherin. Sure enough, he said the password.

"Crucio." 'lovely password.' Charlie thought rolling her eyes.

"C'mon" Vanessa whispered going back "can't risk goin in yet."

"Well i was right." Amber said "it would be after a cruel., vile curse. What do they pick Crucio! "

"That's Slytherin for you." Maddy said when they were a safe ways away, "Nice and vile."

She stopped suddenly and looked out a window at the late afternoon sky. Charlie noticed that she was looking even worse than she had earlier when they'd entered the Great Hall; pale, weary, sick like and... Afraid even, though of what, Charlie couldn't come close to guessing.

"Maddy" Vanessa said "you look terrible why don't you go to the Hospital Wing?" After a bit of pressure Maddy relented and headed to the Hospital Wing.

"Great" Charlie said "two down now."

"Yep" Amber joked "we should start our own M.I.A. card." When the other two gave her looks she laughed. "Missing in action." Charlie laughed but Vanessa was watching after Maddy, a confused, yet strange look was in her eyes.

"Hey" a voice said and they all jumped, then turned around. It was Kat, Issy was behind her.

"Hey" Charlie replied Issy groaned as she checked something in one of her folders, "great. Full moon tonight. Somehow Professor. Trelawney seems to think its the best thing in the world." Kat sighed "gotta go. See ya, death by Divination here we come."

"Halloween Ball, October 30. Man, same day as the Quidditch Game." Charlie said as they walked down to the Quidditch Pitch.

She was a Seeker, Vanessa and Alex, Beaters.

"Why, you goin' Charlie?" Vanessa asked as she walked next to Alex.

The two were already partners. He'd asked her yesterday before Transfiguration to go with him to the Ball.

She'd said yes.

" 'Course I'm not. But hell, people'll be too busy trying to figure out what to wear than goin' to, or paying' attention to the Game. Anyways Mike, Maddy and Alexis ain't going. Personally i don't see what's so big about a dance."

Vanessa just laughed.

Charlie turned around to glare at her but spotted a familiar figure she hadn't seen for almost three days.

"Hey, Maddy" she said going over to her friend. "You ok? You look like hell did a nice job of running you over five times." Maddy half smiled and Charlie saw a long scar on her face.

"Thanks" she said sarcastically.

"Hey Maddy" Vanessa said as her and Alex came over.

"Where ya been?" Alex finished her. Maddy smiled.

"I was a little sick. You know Madame Pomfrey." They each grimaced.

Madame Pomfrey was nice but a bit too caring. Not in a bad way but it did get somewhat annoying.

"So... Look here who we have." A sneering voice they knew all to well.

Jack Malfoy.

"Two Potters" he all but spit the name out. "A Wood, another mud-blood lover. And our little scumbag..." He called Maddy a name that made them all tense up and almost lunge at him for.

"Quite a lovely little bunch of nothings. Have fun, scum." Maddy's eyes looked ready to burst into flames.

"Don't pay attention to the sorry bastard, Maddy." Vanessa said.

"I don't, the moron. But he called you scum." Charlie stared, open mouthed, at Maddy.

"Maddy he called you a..." Maddy cut her off.

"I'm used to it. Honestly."

"Hey, Charlie, Alex, Vanessa you'd better hurry. Practice is starting." Charlie looked at Adam but he gave her a look as if to say 'just wait 'till later. He'll pay.' She nodded and they said good bye to Maddy who had to go to the Library to return a book.

Yep Charlie thought the bastard will pay. Nobody calls my friend that and gets away with it. Beside her Vanessa was silent and appeared to be thinking hard about something.

"C'mon Charlie, eat something." Adam frowned when his sister merely pushed the plate away.

"Yeah, foods good, food is your friend " Amber said as if she was talking to a psycho. Charlie looked up and glared at all of them.

How could they eat!

If she ate anything, she was sure it'd revisit her mouth before the day was over. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I'm not hungry. Really."

After a few minutes the Gryffindor and Slytherin teams stood on the Field.

The two coaches, grudgingly, shook hands and quickly pulled away as if the others touch burnt into them like acid.

They all rose up on their brooms into the air, Charlie looked at the Seeker for Slytherin. A tall slim boy in his second year. Thomas Knox. His hair was blonde, bangs falling over cold gray eyes. She gripped the broom as the Snitch was finally released and the game began.

After a hour Gryffindor was in the lead 170 to 150.

Adam was the best Keeper Charlie'd ever seen and Alex and Vanessa hit the Bludgers like they would never stop. The Chasers were great and she was faring pretty well. Thomas Knox had tried, three times, to trick her into a dive for a imaginary Snitch. She hadn't but got the git good once or twice with a practiced Wronski Feint. Harry'd taught her that since she was young enough to fly.

Apparently the guy was very thick.

He still fell for it.

She did a few laps around the field, scanning for the Snitch and watching Knox carefully.

"Charlie watch out!" she heard Vanessa yell. Charlie didn't know what happened but she pivoted right just in time. A bludger going at a speed fast enough to knock her out good, was flying down the Field.

"Thanks" she said looking up and almost screaming like a banshee. The git Knox had spotted the Snitch and was zooming towards it.

"No!" She said zooming after him, putting her whole weight onto the broom. She felt the wind whip at her face and loved it. But now she had only one thing on her mind.

Catching the Snitch.

Knox and her were now shoulder to shoulder. With a tremendous effort he rammed into her. She pulled the broom as hard as she could to the right and barely missed a stand. She flew back and just ahead of him.

There it was just before her. A small golden speck.

"Go! Hurry" she willed her broom forward. She was sure this was faster than anything normal, probably too fast to be good, but she didn't care. With a small leap forward she had her whole upper body off the broom. Her legs pinned around each other and locked at the ankles.

She used her legs to push her forward on the broom and stretched her arm out.

Now the only thing keeping her on her broom was her legs.

She groaned and thrust her whole body forwards. Her fingers closed securely around the Snitch as her grip on the broom was lost.

The last thing she felt before hitting the ground was the Snitch struggling horribly against her bolt iron lock grip.

Then her vision proceeded to fade into darkness.

A giant brightly shining snitch hung in the air above her. But she couldn't reach it.

Her arm wouldn't move.

Why was everything white?

Where was the Field?

As her vision focused Charlie blinked. She was in the Hospital Wing.

But why here?

Memories of the game swam back into her memory. She sat up and groaned as a pain filled her whole left side and right arm and sank back down. Right then Madame Pomfrey chose to come in.

"You lay still there. You've got a broken arm and most of your ribs were broken, also. Magical healing doesn't do miracles by themselves." Charlie looked at her as if drunken by memories.

"Did... did Gryffindor win?" Madame Pomfrey smiled.

"Yes you landed holding the Snitch. Slytherins didn't seem all to happy, though. Your friends and brothers were here earlier."

Charlie stopped listening.

She'd caught the Snitch.

They'd won.

Gryffindor beat Slytherin.

With these thoughts she sank into sleep. Dreaming about Snitch's and, strangely, full moons. When she woke up there were voices outside her door.

"Can we see her just a minute?" That sounded like Vanessa.

"No, she's resting." Charlie gathered up her voice

"no I'm not Madame Pomfrey. Can they please come in?" She asked, actually saying please, which she rarely, if at all, said to anyone. After a minute they were let in.

Maddy, Alex, Mike, Vanessa, Amber, Alexis, Todd, and Nick all crowded in the room as Charlie managed to sit on the edge of the bed. Her pants covered her feet and she realized she must save been wearing some extra pajamas. Talk erupted at once.

"You were great!"

"How the hell'd you do that!"

"Screw that, why the hell did you do that!"

"You won!"

"You should've seen it!"

"The Slytherins were sooo pissed!"

"Teachers were scared to death!"

"Didn't think you'd make it at first..."

"...you were knocked out cold."

"Woah" Charlie said, trying to gather up a mental picture, "Was it that good?"

"It was great!" Alex said.

"You should've seen those Slytherin gits!" Mike chimed in.

"Man were they ticked." Maddy said smiling.

"That was cool and all, but don't do stuff like that. Wouldn't want to lose you by a Snitch" Adam said. "And I don't mean just dead. You could never be able to play Quidditch again." Charlie shivered at the thought.

"Fine I'll be careful from now on. I promise." She said laughing.

After a few minutes Madame Pomfrey shooed them out and left Charlie to rest.

God i can't wait to get back out there again. She thought to herself trying not to drift off to sleep, but her eyes refused to stay open. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep, was that she was glad they didn't tell parents everything.

Maddy flippied onto her stomach and trying to finish the last part of Lord of the Rings- The Two Towers book that Charlie had given her when Charlie'd finished it.

"You look great" Alexis said to Vanessa as she came up the stairs. Vanessa smiled, feeling fake inside, "thanks."

"Why ain't you going to the Ball?" Amber asked Maddy and Alexis.

"Didn't want to" Maddy said closing the book. There was no way she could finish it right then.

"How 'bout you Alexis?" Alexis shrugged.

"No one asked me."

"Speaking of Balls where's your dress Amber?" Vanessa said.

"Oh yeah, be right back" Amber jumped off her bed and went into another room for fifteen minutes.

She came back out in a baby blue dress that had sparkles on it. Her hair was tied up in a bun, ringlets falling down on her face.

"Woah" Maddy said Vanessa trailed her.

"You look great." Amber blushed lightly.

"Not as good as you do."

There was a small silence broken by Vanessa.

"Whom are you goin with?" Amber smiled.

"Jaspyre."

Maddy raised a eyebrow.

Jaspyre Bylloks was a Ravenclaw second year.

Tall, muscular, what some girls called dreamy with clear blue eyes. He was a Chaser, and a pretty good one, too. His family owned a muggle bakery and a Quidditch shop in America. They were pretty well known and rich. For some time there his dad had been Minister of Magic, but he retired. Now some woman worked there. Jaspyre himself was strange. Everyone knew he was never serious about girls.

But maybe he changed.

"Cool" Maddy said after a few seconds.

She put her head down.

The next full moon was tomorrow night.

She wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Not even Jack.

She couldn't take the Wolfs Bane potion like professor Lupin because it dangerous for younger children, So she had to go about it the hard way, with the monster ripping and tearing at her flesh to get out and run wild in the Shrieking Shack.

She hated how much pain it took, she hated how scary it was.

It was all her fault.

"You ok Maddy?" Amber asked as her and Vanessa were leaving. She looked up at her and smiled

"Yeah. Just gotta visit my mum tomorrow. She's sick and she wants me to come home for a day or two."

Vanessa looked at her, struggling to hide her disbelief and the sadness she knew was filling her eyes.

"Hopefully she's ok. She seemed nice when we met her." She said.

I have to go to the library tomorrow Vanessa told herself as they headed to the Great Hall.

Charlie sighed and sank back into her pillow.

Despite all her pleas and promises she was made to stay here until after lunch. And then she was to rest in the dorm and be careful and crap. Vanessa had came in to visit her and said she had an idea, but couldn't say it there.

"Hey Vanessa cool dress. Er... what's wrong?" Charlie said looking over a Vanessa who was wearing a long simple black velvet gown that was off the shoulders.

Vanessa looked at Charlie with worry in her eyes.

"It's about Maddy." Her voice was barely a whisper. 'Oh no.' Charlie thought to herself sitting up straighter

"What'd that dumb ass brother of her do to her?" She asked out loud. Vanessa sighed.

"Nothings happened to Maddy. But something is happening to her."

Charlie looked at her, her eyes now full of the same worry.

"What?" She said slowly.

"We don't know" Amber said coming out behind Vanessa, in another beautiful dress, "But Vanessa's got a theory." Charlie was silent a minute.

"And Alexis?"

"We've told her about it." Vanessa said, "but I can't tell you here, Charlie." Charlie sunk back down into the bed.

"When are you gonna tell me?" "Tomorrow" Vanessa sounded determined. "After you get out." Charlie frowned but couldn't say any more. Madame Pomfrey rushed them out again.

She'd be leaving any minute now. God she couldn't wait. Why was that damned clock going so slow? 1 second... 2 second... Time was playing with her mind.

Stupid git, that time was.

Finally she was let out.

If she sprouted wings she couldn't have ran out any faster.

When she got up to the fourth floor her paces slowed.

She went to the abandoned classroom they did everything in. Vanessa, Amber, and Alexis, who looked still mildly shocked at whatever their "idea" was.

"So" Charlie said coming into the room. "What's your idea, Vanessa?"

"First" Vanessa walked over to her and put a rather thick red cloth like cover. On its front was printed, in very fancy, golden writing: Every Dark Creature and How to Defend Yourself

"What's..." Vanessa cut her off.

"Its my idea. Read page 502 and you might find out like I did. If you do please remember Maddy." Her voice was soft and firm.

Charlie opened it and started at the title. She then looked up and stared at Vanessa who motioned for her to read on. She stared at the title again for a second, what it said was shocking that Vanessa would tell her to look there. It read:

Were Wolfs "Wait a minute" Charlie said slowly and looked up at Vanessa. She'd read the passage. Everything corresponded right. The full moon, the worse for wear look, the days missing. "You think Maddy's a werewolf?" She waited for the laughing, for the three girls to tell her they'd pulled some horrible prank or joke on her just now and that Maddy was fine, that one of her best friends wasn't cursed forever, that this idea had been a huge joke to get her going.

To her dismay, shock and horror, Vanessa looked down and nodded. Charlie set her jaw.

"But..." she started, suddenly feeling annoyed at Maddy. "Why the hell wouldn't she tell us if she is. I mean we're her friends! " Vanessa sighed.

"Charlie, you know what they do to people who are werewolves. It's horrible. They torture and kill them. Usually in the worst way possible. Even normal people go berserk if they find out a werewolf's living in amongst them. Maddy said she had to move around a lot. And I'll bet most of it was 'cause she's a werewolf. If that happened to you d'you think you'd trust people that easily?"

Charlie looked down and thought a minute. Maddy's words the night they found the Mirror haunted her. "I see my mum and me. We're standing in front of a new house at night...And I'm normal." Had the night been a full moon night? Suddenly she remembered the fear in her friend's eyes that day just after the prank on Snape Oh God she thought suddenly she has to go through unspeakable hell, and knowing she can't even tell her best friends for fear of hatred. Damn this stupid society to hell. Stupid fearing people who hate them cause of what they are once a month. She felt tears actually trying to get into her eyes but she fought them back.

No, I will not be weak. Not now. Oh God. Maddy I am so sorry. Oh God, why her? She felt numb, cold and hot all at the same time.

"We've gotta tell her we know." Charlie's voice sounded forced and in between pain and what Vanessa knew as genuine hate of modern society that shunned their unfortunate friend.

"Not yet Charlie. I'm thinking next month after the full moon. But first we gotta think how to get her alone and tell her. And I'm sure if we don't help back her up once a month the boys will figure it out. I'm not sure how they'll react. So we keep it to ourselves." Charlie nodded in agreement.

Maddy she thought. I'm sorry. God I'm sorry. I swear, though, you won't be suffering under that damned moon alone any more, I swear it. But how can we manage it?

"Ok," Amber said, her eyes shining with strange light like they did when the five were gonna play a prank. "I've got a idea. How about one of us drops something silver where she'll have to pick it up?" Charlie and Vanessa and Alexis all stared at her as if she was mad.

"Are you daft! Of course not!" Vanessa and Charlie yelped at the same time and Amber winced.

"Just an idea."

Maddy sighed as she sat down next to Vanessa, Charlie, Amber and Alexis in the common room. She'd just gotten back from getting what homework she'd missed in Herbology. Suddenly a silver pen dropped down next to her.

"Oh crap, hey Maddy, wanna hand me my pen?" Came Amber's voice. Charlie and Vanessa positively glared at her while Alexis cast her a horrified look. Maddy's insides twisted.

What the hell am I going to do now, and just what, exactly do all the looks mean!

"Amber, you idiot, you'll hurt her." Charlie said, voice sounding as ticked as the glare she was fixing Amber with. She picked it up swiftly and all but thrust it at Amber, who was standing behind Maddy and Vanessa, Amber gingerly took it.

"Sorry," she whispered.

Maddy felt her insides freezing and the room was suddenly hot and cold at once. How did Charlie know that it would hurt her? How did Amber know?

Before she knew what she was doing, she'd pushed herself from the table the five girls were at with a terse, "I've gotta go" and was now out of the Common Room, leaving the Gryffindor Tower at a run.

"You idiot, Amber!" Charlie half shouted, ignoring the looks that she was getting, "What the hell were you thinking!"

"I-I'm sorry," Amber stammered. Before Charlie could go further, Vanessa took her arm.

"We've gotta find her. Amber, Alexis, you two stay here till we bring her back."

If we can find her, that is Charlie added mentally as Vanessa dragged her to the Portrait, the whole Common Room was staring now.

They'd checked everywhere Maddy could've went and twenty minutes later, twenty minutes of almost non-stop running, Charlie was nearly bent over, gasping for air. Vanessa was also panting, but looked much more graceful at it than Charlie.

"Nessa, we'll probably never find her." Vanessa looked out the window and caught sight of the Whomping Willow and then something just clicked.

"That's it!"

"What's it?"

"C'mon." Charlie groaned as Vanessa took off down the hall and then resumed chasing.

"I should get paid for this." Charlie panted as they ran across the Hogwarts Grounds, getting closer and closer to the Whomping Willow.

"Vanessa, have you noticed that neither of us are tiny, nor is there a stick long enough to get to the knot!" Charlie said as she caught up with Vanessa.

"There has to be one, else how would Maddy have gotten in?"

"We don't even know she's in there. If she is, she might've taken it with her." Vanessa found a stick half the size to poke the knot and said the spell needed to elongate it and then prodded the knot, giving Charlie a triumphant look.

"Brat." Charlie muttered, following Vanessa in.

The two slowly made their way down the passage and into the shack, a run down shack with furniture gnawed and gashed up and blood stained by more than one werewolf. This thought sent a shiver down both girls.

They found Maddy sitting in a corner on the upstairs floor, wand out, staring at the opposite wall, where the cream colored pain was peeling and, lower near the floor, was a million, or so it seemed, scratches and a dark blood stain.

"Maddy" Vanessa started almost hesitantly. Maddy raised her eyes slowly to meet the two girls standing in the doorway, which made her look fierce and Charlie almost backed up. But, instead of having fierce anger, her eyes had the same haunted look, and the same look as a child who had seen too much. Only now, both looks were intensified heartbreakingly much.

"Maddy, we know about you being a.. . .."

"Werewolf?" Maddy finished, but, instead of her usual quiet and almost sad voice, this one had bitterness and sarcasm shining through clearly, "that's nice."

They already hate me. I knew this was too good to last. Why did I have to go and get attached!

I told you not to get attatched in the beginning, remember!

I know, I-I'm sorry.

"Maddy, we want to help you."

"Yeah right."

"We do" Charlie said finally, her voice earnest.

"I don't want to be another one of your 'pet projects'." She said tersely, standing up. Both girls knew she was referring to Alexis.

"Maddy, you're not." She almost believed Charlie.

"Sure."

"Maddy, what can we do?" Maddy gave Vanessa a dark smile.

"Besides go away and leave the dangerous menace to the Wizarding and Muggle worlds to herself? Got me, I can't think of anything else." Vanessa and Charlie just stared at her as if she was insane.

"That wasn't what I meant."

Oh come off of it already. You can just go desert me already. Stop the stupid teasing game

"Well what then?" She said almost crossly.

"Well, what I meant was is there anything to help you?" Maddy groaned and rolled her eyes.

"I told you, I don't want to be one of your stupid pet projects and I don't want your damned sympathy!" Her voice steadily rose to a yell, now mad that she couldn't leave, Charlie and Vanessa were blocking her only escape.

"Will you get over yourself, we want to help you 'cause you're our friend!" Charlie yelled back, voice raw.

"We're not trying to make you into any pet-projects, no sympathy, no mystery, no bull. We just want to help you as friends, 'cause we are friends. You do want to be our friend?" Vanessa asked and it suddenly occurred to Charlie that Maddy could say no, could refuse their friendship.

Maddy's cold front seemed to be disappearing as she stared at Vanessa and Charlie.

They're kidding, right?

Of course they are, they don't wanna be friends, they don't care. Maddy sighed.

Besides, they can't do anything.

"You can't do anything, nothing can change it." She said in a small, defeated voice. What she said hit Charlie and Vanessa like a huge piece of lead.

Oh god, please don't, Maddy Charlie mentally pleaded, feeling her insides turn cold and her eyes burn.

Maddy looked at the two girls. Vanessa looked crestfallen but Charlie looked like she'd took the brunt of the hit and then it occurred to Maddy. Charlie had nobody but the five friends, her dad was almost always working, her mom and Adam had a special bond, she was away from her mom now, and rarely was with Adam, Vanessa had Alex and vice versa and Vanessa had her dad and sister, though the three didn't get along too great, she had her mom, in a way, but her mom and her relationship after Lucifer Malfoy was more distant than it should've and now she was away from her mom at Hogwarts, Alexis and Lavender had each other and their parents and Amber had her parents. Charlie and her were alike in a way, all they really 'had' was the friendship of the five girls and the boys, though the groups weren't always together.

She looked up and realized the two had left the room.

No.

She couldn't let it go like this, she couldn't loose them.

"Wait!" she called running out. They both stopped and turned around as one and Maddy couldn't help but smile, "you can't help but I do want to be friends." They both looked relieved and Maddy felt the tears in her eyes.

Damn, why now?

But she also noticed the same ones (not literally) in Charlie's eyes, making the dark green brighter.

The two girls shared an understanding glance before hugging, Vanessa joining in, wrapping her arms around both other girls.

Three girls emerged into the Gryffindor common Room around five minutes later and found Amber and Alexis who stared at them, Amber lowering her gaze after a second.

"I-I'm sorry about the pen, I know it was stupid, but.. .."

"Damn right it was stupid." Charlie muttered but shut up at Vanessa's glare.

"It's ok, we're still friends, right?" An immense look of relief crossed over Amber and Alexis' faces.

"Of course," Amber said, grinning

Maddy lay down on her back and looked at the ceiling above her bed.

Oh great she thought staring at some cracks forming into a picture. A wolf, how appropriate.

The next full moon was in one week. In one week there was supposed to be a horrid cold spell.

Perfect timing.

Then again, her whole life was cursed. Why care about a little part of it?

"Saturdays pass slow don't they?" She looked up at Charlie who had just came in and sat on her bed.

"Kinda" she replied mentally erasing the wolf picture and turning it into a silver bullet. Another great picture.

"What's wrong?" Charlie said, sensing something was up with her friend.

"Nothing"

Nothing except my life's a living nightmare and in one week i have to be reminded of what a cursed being I am.

She immediately pinched herself painfully hard in the side for the trace of self-pity. Her eyes automatically watered. Charlie frowned and looked at her friends face, or tried to since lately Maddy wouldn't even keep eye contact with them.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to tell her we knew. She instantly pushed the thought aside.

"Maddy, something's wrong. Ever since last week you haven't looked at us, much less talked to us, you know we're your friends."

Maddy groaned. She sat up and put her face in her hands.

"I know you're my friends. But i don't deserve you." She said in a quiet, muffled voice, "I'm a monster, a horrible one. People hate us, we don't deserve friends." It sounded rehearsed, memorized, robotic even, and Charlie raised an eyebrow and gave Maddy a look.

"Just because you're, well, somewhat different once a month doesn't mean you're not worthy of friends. You're a great kid, and you really deserve to have friends there ain't a law against that is there? Anyways you've got a better personality and better senses -er... you know what i mean. -"

She smiled lopsidedly at the inquisitive look from Maddy, "Than any of us do. Hell look who you've got for family. And someone like you I wouldn't exactly call a monster. You're the farthest thing from a monster. I've seen people be monsters and they didn't even need a full moon."

Maddy smiled, then looked at the calendar of the next three months of the year on it and swore an admirable bit. Charlie looked at it to and held back her own swearing. The very same day of the full moon was the next Quidditch Game.

"Damn, I'm sorry Charlie. This hell won't let me watch the next match." Charlie laughed,

"It's fine. I'm sure it'll be warmer in the Shack than it'll be out there." She was relieved to see the small smile flicker over her friends face. She vowed to visit Maddy in the shack at dawn.

Icy cold wind whipped around Hogwarts grounds and the Forbidden Forest. Charlie sat in a tree near the Forest holding a small jar full of blue fire.

Gryffindor had beat Hufflepuff, they'd pounded them to a pulp. 150 to 25. Maddy, of course couldn't be there to see it. She was in the Hospital Wing resting for her monthly hell. But that morning at dawn Charlie and Vanessa would go to see her. Charlie knew it wouldn't be the most beautiful site in the world.

Why Maddy though?

She'd wondered this for ages. Well, ever since they'd found out.

Why her?

She sure as hell didn't deserve it.

If anyone did it was Snape's kid or Jack Malfoy.

Much less worthier a person than Maddy. She never complained or cried about it. And she never ever wished it on someone else. Why the hell her though? Life sure was screwed up.

--------

--------

It wasn't hard to not be heard, the wind was howling up a riot. Vanessa and Charlie wondered a bit whether a wolf's voice was part of it. The moon was setting and now the sky was brightening up as the suns first violent red rays caught it.

Thank God it's only Saturday. We'll be dead tired later. Charlie thought as the two snuck through the large double doors, clutching Charlie's invisibility cloak. They'd brought it this time instead of Vanessa's.

They walked silently, each lost in their own thoughts, to the Whomping Willow.

"So" Vanessa said looking around "who's gonna prod the knot?" Charlie looked up.

"I will." She bent down and found a rather long, thick, and pointed stick. After a minute of blind prodding at the Willows trunk, she hit it. The Willow froze and they quickly scrambled in.

"D'you think she's well, safe yet?" Charlie thought a minute then answered Vanessa.

"Well the books say werewolf's are only harmful when the moons up. And it's went down a bit ago. But i think she might still be in wolf form." They waited a minute in silence and thought they heard a few muffles howls and whines.

When everything resumed its uncomfortable silence they did the Opening Charm on the door. Vanessa and Charlie both exchanged glances and tried to prepare them selves for whatever sight they'd meet.

The room itself was a mess.

Pieces of broken chairs and furniture lay everywhere. The curtains were tore by claws and blood stained the floor boards. Charlie's eyes moved around the torn room. She wondered what else was damaged in the house. Blood went into different equally torn rooms. They searched until they got to the second floor, in the very left room.

They weren't prepared for what they saw.

Charlie had to close her eyes a minute to calm her stomach.

Had she not her food would surely revisit her mouth, unwanted.

The room itself was traditionally torn upside down.

Only worse here.

More blood.

How much had she lost that horrible night? Charlie wondered as she saw Maddy's body. Her stomach did another lurch and the did flip flops.

"Oh God..."

Vanessa's groan sounded so far away.

Maddy lay in a heap on the floor near the pieces of an old chair. She was sprawled face down, looking as though she'd tried to rise and had then collapsed again. There was blood all over her, through her hair, over her face, her hands, her legs and body; there was a pool of blood on the floor beyond her and smears of red on the remains of the chair. Her robe- what was left of it- was tangled in a heap across the room. A bit of it -about a few feet was on her back to her upper legs, as if the wolf had been playing with it.

She'd done this Maddy did all this, to the rooms, to herself. Charlie thought looking wildly around, trying to grasp words.

No . She corrected herself that horrible wolf did this to her. The wolf that bit her.

"Maddy" she whispered sinking down next to her.

Vanessa snapped out of her trance and grabbed her cloak.

"She needs it more than me." She whispered, not knowing if Charlie could hear her, or if she was even listening. Charlie blinked as Vanessa's voice tore her away from her thoughts.

"God. It must've been living hell for her." Vanessa said in a quiet, gradually steadying voice.

Charlie's eyes rose to meet Vanessa's.

They looked so fierce it would have scared Vanessa, had she not seen them that way before. But it had been long before when they'd held the look.

Long, long before when she was a little kid...

Her usually bright, stormy emerald eyes were now clear as a cloudless sky, and had another brightness to them. They -Vanessa had to look twice- they looked to be holding back tears.

"Vanessa" her voice was dangerously calm, "We can't.." she paused a minute to look back at Maddy. Vanessa thought she heard her draw an uneven breath, but she continued in the same calm voice.

"We can't let her go through this again." Vanessa thought a moment and tried to come up with the right words and almost had them to.

"What are you two doing here?" Vanessa looked around at the same time Charlie did.

Directly into the face of Madame Pomfrey.

Charlie looked into the questioning face of Madame Pomfrey.

She swallowed hard and beat Vanessa to the answer.

"We're seeing our friend, Maddy. Nothing wrong with that is there?" Had she been all there she would have thought of a believable answer, since she was one of the best liars, next to Maddy. But what lie could she tell?

'Oh Madame Pomfrey! We were just on a walk and we went through the Willow'?

Not likely.

"What? You mean to tell me you..." Vanessa found her words back on time.

"Yeah we know she's a werewolf. We don't care, honestly Madame Pomfrey. She's not a monster." Madame Pomfrey studied them a moment as if trying to figure out what they said was true then smiled.

"You know, it means everything to Maddy that you've accepted her and are still her friends. She didn't expect that at all - she's been terrified about people finding out, because she'd have to leave school. Though I must admit, I've been wondering how long it would take you lot to discover her secret." Her voice was gentle, yet firm.

Vanessa and Charlie now stared at her in amazement

"You thought we'd find out?" Charlie couldn't help but ask.

"We have to talk later. She's waking up." Maddy let out a low moan and Vanessa wasn't sure who got to her faster her, Madame Pomfrey, or Charlie. But in any event Charlie was closer to her face when she opened her eyes.

Maddy blinked.

She knew she was seeing things.

Why the hell would Charlie be there?

She tried to sit up but a hand -probably Madame Pomfrey's by the velvety feel of it- steadied her. She blinked again as her vision swam.

Slowly everything came back into focus.

Madame Pomfrey magically cleaned most of the blood, leaving a bit of nasty gashes on her arms and legs, which she healed.

Maddy, she said, had a broken shoulder bone and had a pretty broken leg. Nothing Magic couldn't heal, of course. There was a great gash on her chest that Madame Pomfrey got to stop bleeding, but it'd need magical stitching.

She wrapped Maddy in a cloak she'd brought and insisted both Charlie and Vanessa wear their own cloaks. Plus they'd have to have a Pepper up Potion when they got back.

"Why'd you come?" Maddy asked, now resting in bed back at the Hospital Wing. Vanessa and Charlie sat in separate chairs next to her bed.

Charlie's stomach had finally stopped lurching and giving her hell, now she could talk normally.

"We didn't want you to be alone." She said calmly, but her mind was made up.

They had to do something. Maddy couldn't suffer under that damned moon anymore. Not if she could help it.

"But what can we do?" Alexis asked, leaning forward. A day had passed. Both Vanessa and Charlie had been to tired to speak the day before and had just recounted the last morning.

"I dunno, but i do know Maddy cant suffer alone anymore." Vanessa's eyes sparked to life.

"Charlie you brilliant creature!" Charlie raised a eyebrow. She thought she'd been called brilliant -a great exaggeration- and a creature at that.

"Huh?" She replied weakly but Vanessa was already dragging her, the other two in tow, to Anigmagus Training room, but they passed it and went into a deserted corridor.

It was brightly lit and all the doors were colored exceptionally bright, well except for a few black ones.

A sign, much like the Platform 9 3/4 one hung above them.

"Teachers corridor." Charlie read aloud.

"Only a special few can see this, it's hard to explain." Vanessa said hurrying them along to a blue door. Passed them flew doors, two that caught Charlie's was a red one, Mc Gonnagal & Sprout and a black one, Ivus & Trelawney. That made her fight back a laughter fit. The blue one read Lupin & Sirius.

When Vanessa a knocked and Remus answered he was almost knocked over she rushed in so fast.

"Weneedyourhelp." Sirius looked between her Remus and the three behind her.

"Erm... could ya slow down a bit?" This time Charlie did start laughing.

"Ok" Vanessa said starting again, "We need your help."

"For what?" Amber asked, feeling totally confused.

"We found out about Maddy." Sirius and Remus both stopped and listened, both had a ghost of a smile flickering on their face.

"And?" Remus asked, almost as if he knew the answer.

"Well, we're still her friends. But" she hesitated, grasping for the right words.

"We cant let her suffer in the Shack alone anymore." Charlie suddenly said, beating her to it.

Sirius gave Remus a knowing smile.

Marauders again. They both pushed the thought away as fast as it came.

No, they couldn't be the Marauders.

There'd have to be a Peter.

And there wasn't a Peter.

There was never gonna be a Peter again.

"That's good. What'd she say?" Charlie grinned at Remus.

"Besides being over joyed, and somewhat awkward at first?" She didn't tell him of what happened in the Shrieking Shack when Charlie and Vanessa found her there, the three had decided it was best kept to their selves. Sirius just laughed.

Just like Remus was. Well, except that we almost got into a fight when we told him. Charlie reminds me of me and Vanessa reminds me of Lilly or James, personality wise James. Thank God there isn't one like Peter.

"And" Vanessa continued "we wanna help her."

The idea suddenly dawned on the other three as lights sprung to their eyes.

"You helped Remus." Sirius frowned.

"But that takes ages. You'll have to wait longer..." Vanessa cut him off.

"we don't need to know theories. How long did it take you to actually do it?" Sirius looked at Remus who gave him a look to say 'why not?' and spoke.

"Well it took us a month. And then a week to actually get the transforming down."

which was mainly cause of Peter. He reflected, somewhat bitterly.

"Will you help us become Anigmagus. Please?" Vanessa asked. Sirius and Remus shared worried glances.

"Yeah, you're the only ones who will." Amber said, speaking finally. Sirius looked at Amber and froze for a second.

Damn it, stop being so sentimental. You've gotta help these kids for Maddy. For their Moony. He looked at them and sighed.

"Fine we'll help you."

Hey Maddy" Amber whispered from the back of Anigmagus training, "We've got two plans. One has to do with you, the others a prank." Maddy looked up from her notes and frowned.

"What trouble are ya'll gonna do now." Vanessa laughed.

"Nothing it's good." Maddy had a hard time trying to keep a straight face.

She'd just got out of the Hospital Wing and was now trying desperately to keep up with the work that they'd done.

The bell rang and instead of going to lunch they pulled her into the same room they'd told her they knew about her in.

"Look. We don't want you to suffer in the Shack anymore." Well that feeling sure was mutual, "And we've thought of a way to make sure you ain't alone no more." Charlie cut off Vanessa.

"We're gonna become anigmagis." Maddy frowned.

"You can't, it takes ages to even get the gist of it. And you sure as hell can't do it... by... your... selves" she said slowing down at the smiles on their faces.

"We know we cant do it alone" Amber said and Alexis finished her.

"Sirius and Remus are gonna help us. We don't need the theory. Remember, we're one of the upper levels?"

"So" Charlie said "are you with us?"

Maddy laughed "I can't stop you?" They shook their heads. "Well. Yeah."

Later in the day, almost supper time, they went to the Slytherin Common Room and said a few enchantments.

"Just wait till supper time." Vanessa whispered.

-----------

-----------

There was tremendous laughter as the Slytherins walked sourly in. Each of their hair had been dyed rainbow colored. Their faces were covered in pink, red, and purple lips and they each had vibrant glowing pink tutu's on.

Vanessa said something inaudible and Snape jumped into a split, ripping her bellbottoms under her tutu and started belting out a Barney song. If that wasn't enough, it got funnier. The Slytherins started dancing behind her and belting out the same song.

Then as they calmed down and sat down pink and purple, gold and scarlet and silver and green sparks shot out of their hair. The sparks formed letters.

'Gryffindor is the best. All Slytherins bow down to them.'

As if on cue the Slytherins got up went to the Gryffindor table and bowed down to them, still scowling and trying to figure out what was wrong. The gales of laughter went louder. Everyone was laughing so hard they were crying.

"God that was good." Charlie said wiping her eyes, Professor Mc Gonnagal hadn't even yelled at them.

"Hey Charlie" Charlie turned around and saw Maddy come in smiling.

"Hey."

"Guess what?"

"What?" Maddy smiled brighter.

"John asked me to go to the Thanksgiving Ball with him." Charlie smiled.

It was time Maddy got to have some fun. Too bad she couldn't feel as happy as Maddy obviously felt.

"That's... Great." Maddy looked at Charlie and Charlie just barely suppressed a groan. She knew what was coming.

"What's wrong? And don't say nothing; I know something's wrong."

Charlie laughed "Fine. Mike asked me to go to the Thanksgiving Ball with him." Maddy grinned.

"Cool, you goin?" Charlie frowned.

"I dunno. I never wear dresses and, well I've never been to a ball. What if I over dress or under dress. Or what if I mess up on the dance floor. I mean I can dance but, what if I get nervous and mess up? I mean, I always mess up like that so what if..." If Maddy didn't butt in she knew Charlie would keep going and in the end, have both girls totally confused and not remembering what exactly they'd been talking about.

"First of all, you won't you'll be fine. And anyways if he asked you he must really want to go with you." Charlie smiled.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt, would it?" She suddenly stopped, "Who's John?"

"He's a Hufflepuff third year from America. He used to be a Beater but got hurt pretty bad one day and quit. His parents are muggles and are pretty well off. But i wouldn't call him a boyfriend though." She added, seeing Charlie's look.

"Is Nick goin?" Charlie asked Maddy, who Nick sometimes buddied around with.

"Nope, he's got a flue. Didn't Alex tell you?" Charlie shook her head.

"He don't tell me a lot."

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---------

"There goes Malfoy." Charlie whispered to Vanessa as they lay in a corner for some reason trenched like. Vanessa nodded and they both stood up and slung each of their invisibility cloaks over themselves. They both took out their wands and muttered a spell and words began to form on his robes in gold and scarlet.

'I love Adam from Gryffindor.'

"God that's wrong" Charlie whispered laughing.

"But it pays him back for what he did to Maddy." Vanessa whispered back, both their eyes flashed red for a second when they thought of what had happened the day before.

Maddy saw the same hall. "Damn it why did Peeves have to chase me down here?" she said out loud. As she walked further down she began to panic a little. She didn't know this hallway.

She only knew up to the old Charms classroom.

Torches light up as she passed them and eerie pictures jeered at her as she passed them. Windows flew open creating huge gusts of wind that froze her to the bone and past.

Gradually more and more got silver. Suddenly she heard a wailing noise and steered to the left onto another silver like corridor. She didn't look up in time to see Peeves push her into a solid silver door.

He sped away cackling.

Her whole body burnt, nothing but a horrible red color could be seen but she felt it burning.

Her screams turned into pleas for help.

She crawled slowly into the other corridor. Her begs for help got fainter and fainter until they were a hoarse whisper.

Her vision swam and black dots danced before her eyes. She passed out with a soft groan that barely sounded like help.

Charlie and Vanessa ran down from the second floor Corridor.

They'd seen Malfoy talking to Peeves and knew it wasn't good.

"Peeves" Charlie breathed catching up to him. But he sped away. They followed at a run and he trapped them in a room off to the side.

When they finally got out they were facing the third floor corridor. Walking down it one by one the torches went out.

The pictures taunted them and they got further and further away from the boundry they knew as the old Charms room.

Vanessa stopped so fast Charlie ran into her, sending both of them crashing into the wall. After they stood up Vanessa started running.

Charlie finally saw the heap that was Maddy laying on the floor.

They instantly knew why Malfoy was talking to Peeves. He'd meant for him to chase her to the haunted hall, but Peeves must of gotten lazy there.

As Charlie and Vanessa sat in the place usually reserved for Maddy at full moons they both swore silently to have revenge. Maddy'd be fine after a week. But she had to recover from the internal burning.

Had they found her any later she'd be dead.

Malfoy was being punished with detentions for five months.

"This is only the beginning." Charlie said, reading Vanessa's mind.

"Yeah" Vanessa said, a hint of angriness to her voice.

"Ok today we'll be making Wrinkling Solution. Nobody mess this up or you'll be having detentions for a month." Prof. Ivus snapped. They got out all the ingredients including Wolfs Bane and Charlie looked at Maddy who had just returned from the Hospital Wing.

She looked horribly pale but didn't say anything about what happened in the hall.

Her, Maddy and Vanessa were working together. Charlie added the wolfs bane as Vanessa and Maddy did the rest. When they were done they all took out a piece of parchment.

Maddy wrinkled it up and tossed it into the trashcan next to Malfoy. The can obediently chewed it up. A silvery liquid escaped from its base and spilt onto Jack Malfoy's shoe. Although he didn't see it, several Gryffindors did and silently snickered among themselves.

His Wolfs Bane disappeared and the silvery liquid ate it, then, after a minute of bubbling it turned into the Wolfs Bane plant. He picked it up and scowled at it.

Then again Malfoy always scowled.

After cutting it in half and dipping it in he stirred it and added the golden liquid next to him. The liquid turned the appropriate shade of purple. Maddy looked at Vanessa questioningly but she just shook her head slightly and mouthed the words 'hold on.'

Then the potion started bubbling, still the same color.

A huge bubble appeared and burst. The contents spilt all over thirteen Slytherins, including Jack Malfoy and his little gang.

Ivus stood up and ran over to them so fast Charlie wondered how she didn't trip. If she would've grown wings she couldn't have went faster. The Gryffindors and other Slytherins fell immediately silent after some girls stopped shrieking.

"Jack Malfoy!" She yelled loud enough to almost break Charlie's eardrums, "you know how to mix this Potion right!..." She yelled on and on as he next to cried with pain at his skin.

Finally after deducting fifty points, for all three of Jack and his friends and giving Jack a months worth of detention she sent them to the Hospital Wing. The whole Gryffindor side buzzed with talk.

"God that was way to cool." Maddy said as they left.

"The worst is yet to come." Amber said walking up behind them.

"Yeah" Charlie said angrily. "Nobody messed with our friends and gets away with it." Vanessa finished her.

"Specially when they almost kill them." Alexis said throwing a contemptuous look to where Jack had previously been.


	7. Chapter 7

1Vanessa's emerald dress flowed behind her as her and Alex went through the turn. The dark blue eyes looked excited and content, the green ones were concentrating. Both were locked on each other's.

They reminded Sirius of Lilly and James.

Both were great at dancing.

Her long red hair, everything except her blue eyes was in accord with Lilly. And like his father, Alex was the spitting image of James Potter, well except for his eyes. And those weren't Lilly's they were his mum's eyes, but God he looked like James.

But it wasn't Lilly Evans or James Potter.

It was Vanessa Wood and Alex Potter.

And he wasn't the same child watching his two best friends dance like mad on the Great Hall floor.

Peter had always stuck to the wall near Remus and Sirius, since the two didn't dance much but could if asked. But Peter the boy wasn't there.

He had died with Lilly and James -no, he'd died on graduation day, if not before- Sirius and Remus had died with Lilly and James.

All because of Peter.

No, not Peter, Peter was the boy who played pranks with them, Peter was Wormtail. Wormtail was a Marauder.

No he was Pettigrew.

Pettigrew had ruined everything.

Lilly and James were long dead.

Harry never knew them or Sirius and Remus and Charlie and Alex never knew their grandparents.

Sirius had died that night.

Then died again in those twelve years of Azkaban.

And Remus.

Moony.

Left alone.

Howling and suffering under that horrible moon all alone, no Marauders to play and ease the pain with.

Alone.

The one thing they'd sworn never to do to him.

One man ruined all those lives.

Sirius could never understand why he did it.

And now.

History certainly was being a bitch.

A werewolf, her friends ready to become anigmagis for her. The ones who seemed the most desperate were reminding him of him and Prongs. But Maddy, however like Remus, was totally different in a few ways.

Not mentioning the obvious.

She had quite a temper.

Even when he was mad -with the exception of Sirius' little prank on Snape- he'd never really got mad, but even she took quite a bit to get angry.

Despite her relations to the Malfoy's Remus and him had grown somewhat fond of her.

He'd had to shove his face almost into the wall not to laugh when she'd called Jack Malfoy a completely retarded dumb ass the other day.

Oh but he was.

If only he was able to give first years passes to Hogsmeade.

She'd have fifty.

"Ok, now we've got all the ingredients." Sirius said slowly adding the ingredients to the concoctions their steaming cauldrons held.

He bit back memories of three fifteen year olds doing the very same thing years and years before to help their best friend.

"So you thought of the general species, like canine, feline." Remus said watching the cauldrons steam. He hadn't been with the Marauders when they turned into Anigmagus, he'd only seen them a week later at the full moon.

"Right" Sirius continued, "You need something personal." Vanessa and Alexis both had brought brushes and plucked a few strands from the brush teeth. Charlie and Amber just ripped a piece out, both wincing for a second.

It was December fifth. fourteen days 'till the next full moon.

After a bit of conning on their parts, Charlie, Amber, Vanessa, Maddy, and Alexis were let by their parents to stay home for Christmas Break. They'd stayed because they wanted to be with Maddy on the full moon as anigmagis.

Not that their parents knew anyways.

As Sirius and Remus instructed, they dropped the hairs in each individual's cauldron. There was a fizzing sound then popping as bubbles were emited onto the concoctions blue-purple surface. Hissing and crackling noises soon followed the other sounds then a mist was produced.

It wound around the room, no one could see an inch in front of them on any side, Then as if blown by a sudden gust of wind it started swirling 'round them. Then, after a great sound like rushing water, it whizzed past them and hovered, spinning, over their cauldrons. Suddenly in the mist black and gray animals sprouted forth and shown their selves to their people.

Vanessa had a tiger, Ambers was a fox, Alexis had a squirrel and Charlie's was the strangest type of dog-wolf thing she'd ever seen. It was pretty big, well, big for a puppy anyways. It had a dog/puppies body, but a wolf's tail, paws and ears it seemed.

"It's a grim." Amber said slowly peering at it, "Congratulations, Charlie, you can scare the shit outta everyone now." Charlie looked at it and grinned her mischievous/excited grin.

"Cool." She doubted a puppy-grim could scare anyone, but it was still cool. She didn't even know that Grims existed.

"I thought Grims were just in stories..." Alexis trailed off, looking creeped out that she would spend one night a month in the company of not only a wolf and tiger, but a Grim as well.

"No, "Vanessa started, "they're real, just they don't mean Death like everyone loves to think they do. They're actually almost on the Endangered Magical Species list cause wizards and witches kill them off for just that reason, something about killing a grim means good luck or some such nonsense."

Oh great Charlie couldn't help but thinking I get the coolest Anigmagus possible only to find out that stupid wizards and witches are killing them left and right.

"You'd better wait till tomorrow to try tackling the actual transformation." Sirius said checking his watch. 11 a.m. Professor Mc Gonnagal would kill them if the kept the children up longer, "First you gotta drink a cup full of the potion to enable your transforming ability. Then off to bed or Mc Gonnagal will scalp us."

After they downed a cup of the horrible tasting stuff, the four Gryffindors trudged, dead tired, up to the girl's dorm.

There was the full moon.

But why the hell was she not transformed?

Her keen nose smelled the scent of tantalizing cheese wafting towards her. Looking up at the moon once more she realized it was a ball of cheese hung over a waxing moon.

Thud.

What the hell was that! This wasn't a falling dream!

And why was the ground all soft and bouncing!

Maddy opened her eyes, squinting against the morning sun. A pair of emerald eyes loomed above her own, shocked she half leapt - half rolled away.

Thud

She hit the ground, blankets wrapped around her. After a few moments of kicking and struggling with the blankets from hell she got free. Rolling out of them and onto her hands and knees, she peered up, through her light brown hair, at Charlie, who looked torn between laughter and surprise.

"What the hell were you doin Charlie?" She said to Charlie who jumped off her bed and landed on the wooden floor on her feet next to Maddy and peered down at Maddy, a triumphant look on her face.

"Waking you up." Maddy rolled her eyes.

"Well I'm up. What the hell time is it?" She said pulling her hair into a ponytail.

"Cranky aren't we?" Charlie teased.

Maddy decided not to tell her about the cheese moon.

"It's 9:30. Today's when the rest of our little Gryffindor gang goes bye, bye but me, you, Vanessa, Alexis and Mike."

Recognition flooded Maddy's eyes and she jumped up, ran into the bathroom and came out a minute later dressed in jeans and a worn out shirt.

"That was fast enough." Charlie observed, raising an eyebrow and giving Maddy a crooked smile.

She could look so strangely like a young Sirius at times.

"And" Charlie continued in a whisper that sent chills up Maddy's back, "We got out anigmagis." Seeing Maddy's curious look she was trying, unsuccessfully, to hide she continued, "Vanessa got a tiger, Amber a fox, Alexis a squirrel, you know what a Grim is, right?" Maddy looked slightly confused.

"I thought they were just made up to scare people to death."

"So did I, but, according to Nessa, they're really rare, they're like on the Endangered Magical Creatures list cause wizards and witches love to kill them." Maddy laughed.

"You would get the Anigmagus that everyone's trying to kill, well, at least you get to scare everyone to death," Charlie just laughed.

They both raced downstairs and outside, Maddy winning so far by three steps. She stopped when she saw Vanessa, but Charlie didn't in time.

Charlie rammed into Maddy who was pushed into Vanessa.

In the events following all three girls fell down the stairs. They all stood up and Vanessa and Maddy glared at Charlie, both were covered by snow. Charlie backed towards the door, grinning angelically.

After giving each other looks both girls grabbed handfuls of snow and hurled them at Charlie. Charlie, in turn, leapt off the stairs and started grabbing and hurling snowballs. Mike, seeing the current snowball war, let out a whoop of delight and jumped off the steps and joined in, on Charlie's side.

By the time Professor Mc Gonnagal came out and made them quit and go up to their dorms and get changed and dried, they were soaked to the bones. They all trudged up the back way, so as to avoid Madame Pomfrey.

"What happened t'you?" Charlie looked up at Alex as she dried her drenched hair with a big midnight blue towel.

"Snow fight. Thought you left already." Alex mock pouted.

"I missed the fight. Anyways we leave in..." he paused to look at his watch, which as dangerously close to leaving this world, "Ten minutes. I gotta go." He paused to give Vanessa a good-bye, and, if Charlie or anyone else paused to look, they would have seen the kiss, but no one did.

"Well." Mike said flopping down on the couch next to Charlie and propping up his legs on a coffee table like table thing, "They're gone now." Charlie, now tying up her still wet, though not dripping wet, hair, looked at him.

"And you're gonna go to your dorm and cry." She joked.

He gave her a mock glare and laughed.

"If you don't wanna have an extra strong Tickling Charm, you'd better quit." They went on like that for a few minutes till Vanessa gave the four girls a look. They all got up to leave, saying they were going to find a new secret corridor or such.

Once they were out they headed towards the Teachers Corridor to learn to transform.

Charlie stood in the room and watched the other three transform. Both Amber (who was leaving that day due to a mess up on the first day leaving) and Vanessa did it with painless mastery but Alexis had a bit of trouble. They'd done the practicing three days already and this was Charlie's first try. As with all rare anigmagis, Charlie had to do extra bits of practicing.

Now it was her turn to join them in the animal world.

She looked at the big black and orange tiger with sapphire eyes that was Vanessa, the little squirrel with green eyes that was Alexis, and Amber, a red and golden fox with silver eyes, all staring up with anticipation, at Charlie.

She smiled at a new thought,

Wait till Maddy sees us. She thought happily.

She pictured every minute detail of the Grim and, after a few seconds, she turned into a black shaggy puppy. It had the eyes, ears, tail, and paws of a wolf, but the rest was a puppy whom was a little bigger than most puppies, but just as big as a werewolf pup, it's golden eyes were sparkling with light and her black tail wagged happily and she let out a quick bark that probably meant 'it worked.'

---------

---------

Maddy walked down the long corridor, making sure not to go near the 3rd floor corridor.

The idea of her friends becoming anigmagis had yet to sink in.

It was all too crazy, but it felt great she had real friends.

Friends who were willing to do all that for her and expect nothing in return.

They'd been practicing transforming for a week already, Charlie and Vanessa had told her. She wondered how they were getting on with it.

She remembered, with a slight smile, the day they'd met. She, at first had been very wary of them. After all, she tried not to get too close to people, being that they moved so often and most friends would turn enemies in a heartbeat.

But they'd been different.

They hadn't let her try to keep distance in-between a new friendship, and now, in hindsight, she was glad she hadn't resisted. If she had, who knew what might have happened.

But even if she originally resisted, they'd work her into a friendship.

It was just the way they were.

And now they knew.

They knew what she was.

And they hadn't turned her away.

They wouldn't believe she was a monster. Even she was starting to doubt she was.

Her mum knew that they knew.

Oh God was she happy for Maddy.

She said she knew the girls were different from the moment she saw them. After all her mum had a thing about people's personality.

Maddy jumped as a hand grasping her arm drove the thoughts away. She knew the grip at once.

Charlie.

Sure enough, she turned around and the girl stood behind her, smiling happily.

"C'mon" she heard Charlie whisper and the next moment was being drug halfway down the hall. She stumbled and stood up properly and started running after Charlie.

Charlie led her around corners and halls, portraits and rooms flying by as they ran, now side by side in a tied race. She ran past the Dancing and Singing and Anigmagus Training classes, stopping as Charlie stopped in front of a new hall. She gave Charlie a look when she read the 'Teachers Hall,' sign but Charlie motioned her into a blue door that read Lupin & Sirius.

As she entered, slowly, she saw a gold and red fox sitting next to the wall, a happy look in her eyes. Suddenly she was knocked backwards by a great weight. A tiger with Vanessa's blue eyes stared into her face.

"Vanessa?" She said, the idea dawning on her.

The tiger grinned, a rather scary grin, and then she felt something fanning her face. She looked up and saw a black dog -puppy's- face and a tail wagging to beat hell.

"Charlie?" She thought the pup -Grim- nodded. Then a squirrel she knew was Alexis scampered up to her as the fox sat down next to it.

"Woah" she breathed as the tiger leapt, agily, off her and she sat up against the wall.

She couldn't even form the words for the right thanks.

Had she been girly she would have burst into tears, but she wasn't. She looked up at Sirius and Remus and her now transformed back friends.

"Woah" she continued. "Thanks."

Vanessa smiled, "anything for our friend."

"Anyways," Charlie said, smirking cheekily, "You're our best friend. No matter what, you're still stuck with us." Maddy laughed, feeling considerably lighter.

And happier.

The three girls, all under the same invisibility cloak, snuck out the big oak doors as Madame Pomfrey entered them.

Back from the Shrieking Shack.

The night was chilly, reminding them of the winter they'd already entered. Through a light haze of a passing cloud they saw the full moon's light pouring on the Whomping Willow and Charlie cursed the moon for her friend who couldn't.

She wondered what it was like knowing never in the rest of your life could you see a full moon out of human eyes. Wordlessly Charlie picked up a stick and did the same blind poking. She hit it and it froze.

"D'you think she's a wolf yet?" Alexis asked. They froze a minute as they heard a wolf howling.

"Yeah." Vanessa finished Charlie,

"We'd better change. Quick."

As if on key, all three shadows morphed into animals.

The squirrel, tiger, and grim all gathered into a semi circle.

Charlie it was Vanessa you first. Maybe wolfs recognize a dog better . Charlie nodded slightly.

They went through a door left slightly ajar and stopped, a bit alarmed.

There, looking straight at them and snarling was a wolf puppy, bigger than most wolf puppies, the size of the grim before it, it's fur light brown with white streaks through it and amber eyes.

Charlie went forward slowly, her paws making no noise on the wooden floor. The wolf lunged forward and just barely missed the dog's left shoulder.

The dog yelped and backed up a step but then stood its ground although the wolf started to advance on it.

Suddenly the wolf stopped.

It sniffed her slightly as the grim pup almost bowed down. Then recognition shown slightly in the wolfs eyes. The pup, Charlie, barked.

Play?

Amber eyes met golden and flashed a moment then the wolf barked and stretched down on it's fore legs, growling like a playful puppy, tail wagging. The grim puppy followed the wolf puppy, it's black wolf's tail wagging and soon the two were off, running, hopping, bounding around the room just playing.

After a flick of its tail, the tiger joined in, the squirrel, somewhat warily, joined in the game. And so they ran in the Shack. The two, grim puppy and wolf puppy, natural cousins, ran together at the front, followed closely by the tiger. The squirrel brought up the rear.

The door to the shack was opened and they played in the hallway of the Willow and wrestled with the wolf when it got impatient. Two hours before dawn they ran out of the Willow, away from Hogwarts and into the Forbidden Forest.

So this is what its like Charlie thought, ground flying beneath her paws as her and the wolf ran side by side.

The dog looked up at the moon and howled a mocking howl. A howl of curses and of despise, and also a howl of defiance. The wolf joined in and both voices, the dogs and the wolf's, haunted the night sky and showed defiance to the cursed moon.

The full moon.

Only when the dawn came did they notice how horribly exhausted they were, as well as their friend was. They brought Maddy into the bed, and the dog lay next to the wolf. And Vanessa, the tiger lay down on the couch, the squirrel choosing the spot it had last sat on, the rug.

A movement behind her awakened Charlie. She heard a quiet moaning and muffled whimpering. Slowly she opened her eyes and lifted her pup-head off her paws and looked next to her. Maddy was laying next to her on her stomach, half human, half werewolf, in the middle of her monthly painful re-transformation and somehow she was still asleep, or keeping her eyes closed so as not to see.

Charlie was a bit surprised by the change's effects, but she knew of the horrible pain she must've been suffering right then. She transformed into her human form and put her hand gingerly on her friend's shoulder to show her that she was not alone.

Even the thought had a warm feeling to it.

She took the blanket and covered her friend, doing this she noticed how little Maddy had injured her self during the night. She less scratches and only one big bite in her arm, her body still had evidence of the wolf, though, of course, just a lot less gruesome.

Maddy opened her eyes slowly, because of her killer headache, which happened to be turning into a migraine. She looked around, feeling only half awake, Charlie was sitting next to her on the bed, looking sleepy, and also half awake and on the couch a small beautiful white tiger lay sprawled out, a squirrel lay on the floor, also very asleep.

"What..." Maddy whispered, "What does that mean? I mean, the animals. She was obviously still half out of it. Charlie thought smiling slightly. "The tiger... And I can... I can remember last night... i remember what i did... Vaguely but still... And there had been a... dog..." She suddenly stopped and frowned. Then continued, obviously starting to remember why the animals were there.

"But I could have escaped, maybe bit you still in human form. You could have been given detention by a teacher who doesn't know." Maddy's head hurt even worse with the possibilities.

"Well, you're worth it," Charlie said simply, as if it was the best and only answer in the world, and lay next to Maddy, turning into a Grim pup and falling asleep again.

The sun was shining when Maddy woke up again. She guessed the sun was just rising as the tiny hole at the top on the wall showed the sky was still a myriad of colors; pink, purple, blue, and a brilliant red just seeping in. Madame Pomfrey hadn't came yet and wasn't going to come till the sun was fully in the sky. Earlier in the year se would have been there already but she was used to the girls being in she Shack with Maddy in the mornings and trusted them to see that she was ok and come and tell Madame Pomfrey when something was wrong. She, however, did not know that the girls were Anigmagi, only Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore knew that.

After a minute, she looked around again.

Now there were no animals in the room any more, but her friends, Vanessa, Charlie, and Alexis. The latter one was laying on the rug at the bed, Charlie slept quietly next to her on the cot, still curled up in a dog like position, although once and a while she would make a small whimper and Maddy didn't even want to know what she was dreaming. Vanessa was stretched out on the couch with a smile on her face and Maddy guessed she was dreaming of Alex.

After a while Vanessa woke up and stretched tiredly. She looked into Maddy's eyes.

"Good morning," she greeted. Maddy stared at them.

"How'd... how'd you get here?" she asked, sitting up.

"How d'you think?" Charlie groaned and sat up, looking exceptionally tired not soon after, Alexis sat up from her position on the rug.

"Bloody hard floor." She mumbled, glaring at the floor.

"Why'd you come?" Maddy asked slightly still out of it.

"Cause we didn't want you to be alone one more night." Charlie said, smiling.

"Last night... That was cool," Maddy said.

"You remember last night?" Vanessa asked raising an eyebrow. Maddy thought a minute. Then smiled.

"Yep, for the first time. I didn't feel as wild as usual, more like... Almost well, tame."

"Then it was worth it all." Alexis said, smiling.

"You sure its behind this knight?" Charlie turned and hissed at Alexis to keep her voice down.

"Yeah, remember earlier this year we saw it? And Vanessa found the new password too. All we gotta do is make sure it's the right password..."

"What are you two doing?"

Charlie and Alexis whipped around face to face with Tasia Black, a boy, and Kat Lupin. Kat was smiling slightly as she said this, her usual maddening 'I know something you don't' smile, or a smile in that range.

"Nothing at all." The look Alexis was giving her told Charlie that this was as lame and unbelievable as saying that the Marauders were innocent. Charlie gave her a look as if to say 'and you have a better idea?'

Alexis just rolled her eyes, but she was grinning.

"Yeah right Potter, like i believe you." Charlie smirked.

"You should know all about truth, Lupin, you're dad being one of the Marauders and all." Kat laughed,

"Well, if you're trying to get into the Slytherin common room, the path forks in the middle of the tunnel. I'll say this. The left one leads you to you're goal. The right one, well... it isn't so pleasant."

"Thanks Kat." They tried it out, sure enough, halfway down the path forked. But instead of goin further they went back.

Charlie left in a hurry, Alexis right behind her, to tell Vanessa.

---------

---------

Maddy and Vanessa sat in the common room nervously. Charlie and Alexis had been gone half an hour already. Suddenly the picture burst open and two girls, a black haired and an auburn haired one fell in. Charlie and Alexis stood up and Charlie ran over to a couch next to Maddy and Vanessa and jumped onto it smiling from ear to ear.

"It worked."

The wind from an open window whipped around the girls' dorm. Charlie opened one eye and looked out of it. A thick blanket of snow covered the Hogwarts grounds and the Forbidden Forest, the lake was as gray as the sky it reflected and she could just make out Hagrid lugging back a huge Christmas tree. A voice soon interrupted any train of thought she had been on.

"Merry Christmas, Charlie!" said Vanessa, smiling. She was sitting cross-legged on the end of her bed, holding a big box in her hands, "Not opened your presents yet?"

Charlie opened both her eyes, sat up, yawned, stretched, and blinked twice at the tremendous pile of presents on her bed.

"Nope" she said after a minute, "but damn there's a lot."

"Yep" Vanessa said happily as she tore into her presents.

Alexis was gone, she'd been sick the night before and her presents had migrated to the Hospital Wing and Amber was at home with her parents.

What's missing from this picture? Charlie thought puzzled, then it finally hit her.

Maddy.

"Maddy. You awake?" She asked but only got a muffled groan.

She was.

Maddy sat up and picked up the nearest present from the rather smaller, Charlie noted bitterly, pile than the other girls.

"Well now i am," she said in between yawns. She stared at what was inside, head tilted to one side. Charlie looked and started laughing.

Dung bombs.

Apparently Alex had given them the same present, incase they found how to get into the Slytherin Common Room.

Wise move, Alex. She'd have to thank him when he got back.

Charlie picked up a rather heavy package. This one was a vibrant lime green, with a gold and blue ribbon. When she torn off the wrapping paper, Charlie discovered three books put together: A Seekers Guide, Quidditch through the Ages, and The Beater's Bible. There was a note with it, as well,

Charlie,

You have no idea how much it's killing your mum not to have you here with us. Well it's killing me, too. Can't believe Moony and Padfoot stayed there, also. Oh well.

I have a strong suspicion Alex and Adam chipped in and bought all of you dung bombs. Let's just say this: I'll be awaiting the next Hogwarts owl. Try not to get caught when you do anything, too. You don't need a hell of a lot of detentions.

Much love

-Dad

Charlie laughed; it was like her dad to send her Quidditch books. She also caught the 'when you do anything try not to get caught.'

Interesting wording, no? She thought opening another one.

"What's that?" Charlie asked, pointing at the box Maddy was holding. She laughed and opened the lid: it was full of wizarding sweets of all shapes and sizes, especially Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes and Blowing Gums.

"My mum always sends me these, we're both addicted to chocolate," she shrugged.

Yeah, it's the only things she can afford anyway.

Oh shut up, be glad. She's the only family member that would.

Well, yes...

"Anyways, these are your favorites, ain't they?" she asked Charlie, handing out a Frog.

Charlie nodded chewing on it.

Vanessa had gotten her own chocolate frogs as a annual present from her dad. They'd been her mum's favorite food when she was alive and, strangely, Oliver and his two daughters had developed a particular affinity for the Chocolate Frogs.

"Hey" Vanessa said, "did you get a weird metal box?" The other two nodded. They all looked in and started laughing.

It was a box of everything that they needed to pull pranks with.

The same note was in each box,

'I know i don't need to tell you this. But use these well.'

Charlie laughed, she knew who wrote that.

Sirius.

Christmas day was peaceful, the food was absolutely delicious, and Hagrid had decorated the Great Hall with deep-green holly branches. The suits of armors standing in each corner of the room were covered with bright Never-Melting snow, as white and pure as the one falling outside.

And it literally was falling.

Lunch was served on the golden plates and goblets used for the start-of-year and Halloween feasts, and neither the pumpkin juice or the food had ever seemed more delicious.

Charlie, Mike and Lavender -Alexis' twin sister who had also become their friend- had a 'race' to see who could eat more and eat faster.

Mike won.

Lavender was the first to quit, as her stomach was so full if she ate more she'd puke. Charlie quit just barely before Mike, for the same reason. He didn't look so great when he'd finished either, and he did get sick. He'd came back an hour later to Lavender's hounding, she'd all but told him he'd asked for it by eating so much at lunch.

"Ok. Ok Lavender. God," he finally burst out, "It was only a little indigestion I'll listen to you from now on. Although we'll still have races i wont eat a whole hell of a lot. Jeese." Seeing her scolding look he rolled his eyes at Charlie, who stifled laughter at the same time as Maddy, Alexis and Vanessa.

"I promise."

"Well you still..." Charlie doubled over in fits of laughter as he stuck his fingers in his ears and started humming a Christmas Carol, loudly that sounded distinctly like Deck the Halls and was next to singing it.

Lavender made a face at him and stuck her tongue out at him then went up stairs to her dorm. This only made the other five laugh harder.

Charlie sat cross-legged on her bed in the dorm three hours later staring at the cover of one of Adam's books she'd stolen from his trunk. It was some kind of advanced schoolbook for his year. She'd not been reading it; her books were boring enough, just looking at the pretty cool pictures inside. She was interrupted from a conversation with one of the pictures as to whether Moon Faeries existed (he thought they didn't, she thought they did) by Maddy coming in the room.

"Hey"

"Hi" she said and started to say something but tripped over a object on the floor, which turned out to be a small ball like thing Charlie'd never really paid that much attention to.

"Ouch." Maddy said as she lay face down on the floor. She pushed herself into a sitting position and scrunched up her nose kind of.

"You ok?" Charlie asked, trying not to laugh.

"Ouch" Maddy repeated rubbing her nose. "Well, i guess so. It ain't broken." She then said but stopped as a few of the boards had literally disappeared .

"What the hell happened?" Vanessa said, staring at the floor. She'd obviously just come up and was now, too, staring at the floor boards, or lack there of.

"I dunno" Charlie said "but it looks worth exploring." After a bit of an argument between the three, they leaned over the hole and peered in. They could see small lights that could only be candles from somewhere below. After the three shared a look Charlie jumped in first, followed by Vanessa then Maddy, who had been looking out for anyone.

The fall wasn't quite as long as it looked from the dorm and the floor was reasonably soft with silver, scarlet, yellow, and blue colors twisting in a marble like style on the top of a rug. In the middle of the twisting colors was the emblem of Hogwarts cast in stone.

"What is this place?" Vanessa whispered from behind Charlie, who only shook her head, equally baffled.

Maddy looked up and almost started.

Where the hole had been was now just huge high up walls.

This room was huge, indeed. Much higher than the Great Hall, the Entrance Hall, or the Hogwarts kitchens - or even higher than the Great Hall, the Entrance Hall, and the Hogwarts kitchens put together.

The walls were still cold and damp but with the many torches, they appeared to glow a reddish dark gray, darker and darker as you gazed up to the ceiling. The stones were old, and many were cracked and scratched in various places, indicating that a long time had passed since they'd been erected there.

The ceiling its self was, from what Maddy could see, the same way the floor's carpet was, only without the stone in the center. Like the walls, cracks reached into the center of it, showing it's age.

Wow Maddy thought staring upwards. Where are we?

Charlie caught Maddy's eye and looked up at the same time she did and her mouth fell open.

The room was huge !

After a minute of the three girls gaping at the ceiling and room, they walked on. The corridor was a wide one and had many rooms branching off of it. All in all there had to be at least a thousand hallways, passages and rooms in the place.

After going down a steep incline, they chose another corridor to the right, as further down their main hall was getting less light by the torches. The halls floor was a molding scarlet carpet and the three girls bare feet -as they hadn't had time to put on their shoes- padded silently over the carpet. The air was less thick here, but not very fresh, although it was slowly getting better.

Shadows passed over their faces at every torch they passed. Charlie gave Maddy a look, who simply shrugged slightly and after a minute Charlie decided. She changed easily into a grim pup.

After walking for what must've been an hour they came across many new corridors and halls branching off them. But a particularly well light room caught their attention. It's wooden door was all the way open and partially off one hinge.

They went in silently, as Charlie changed back into human form. The room was big and had stonewalls like that of the main corridors and the ones that followed its walls. Torches weren't here, but instead a never burning out chandelier hung from a iron chain, spider's webs covering it. The light cast a eerie light over the dusty and dim room. In its center was the weirdest looking thing Charlie'd ever seen.

It was a mirror; a long crack stretching from its upper right hand corner to it's lower left one, with a golden frame stood there. A fog was passing over the surface -it took Charlie a minute to realize the fog was in the mirror - it wasn't the Mirror of Erised, they knew that much. As the three girls walked closer the fog started to swirl faster and faster. And suddenly the picture seemed to emerge inside the fog.

A forest.

The Forbidden forest to be exact.

The fog came out and circled around the room spinning closer and closer till it caged them in and the girls shivered with sudden coldness.

Then all at once the fog pulled them into the Mirror and right into the Forbidden Forest.

Charlie landed on the snowy ground with a soft thud but the feeling was harder than the sound. Fresh cool crisp air hit her face and she gladly breathed it in then looked around.

They were in a clearing. Trees surrounded them in thick groups, bushes, now as barren as the tree branches, and also barren shrubs were entwined. Here and there was the occasional tuft of brown grass stuck out of the snowy blanket covering the ground.

As she looked up she saw Vanessa and Maddy, and like them started to stand up. She wrapped her arms around her, shivering as the cold air hit her.

"We're in the Forbidden Forest." She whispered. They looked about them, and, Charlie guessed, they were in the very center of it.

If only they knew the way back. Then they'd have it made.

They picked their way through the brush and trees, their feet making no noise on the snow, which had already made their bare feet numb and red. They each stopped once in a while, thinking they heard the cracking of twigs or something, but kept on going after a moment.

They were nearing the edge of the forest. They must've been gone for two hours by now for it was getting dark and the moon was rising over the Forbidden Forest's black tree tops. Their limbs were numb and it took everything to just keep walking and not to just lay down and stay there and it was a miracle hypothermia hadn't set in.

Then they all heard it, a definate noise of something rushing towards them.

"Run!" Vanessa yelled as they heard the noise get closer and they all took off running the ten yards to the trees edges. They could see the shadow of Hogwarts looming over it's huge land, and the thing was barely a yard behind them and getting faster and closer. Vanessa could hear its panting as if it was directly behind her, ready to pounce and maul her.

Suddenly the thing took a huge running leap when they were almost out of the Forest.

It landed on top of Vanessa, both flying out of the Forest.

Charlie and Maddy shared wild, and scared looks and ran forward as fast as they could, numbness going to a tingly-warm feeling, giving speed to their leaden limbs as they ran more and more, tripping on the roots of trees and spare bushes and such.

When they got to the edge of the Forest they heard a huge voice booming above the treetops from the direction of Hagrid's hut.

"Annubis! Back! Down! Leave 'em alone!" Charlie looked up as she landed on her knees, panting like a thirsty worn out dog, Maddy right next to her.

Half puzzled and half relieved, Maddy and Charlie watched the huge outline of Hagrid striding toward them, holding a lantern. In its glimmer, Maddy saw that the beast was a great sandy colored dog. It was running happily to it's master, tail wagging happily. Vanessa sat up on her elbows, and wiped away the dog's slobber covering her face, looking winded, froze and amused.

"What're yeh three doin' out 'ere?" His gruff voice said as he petted the huge dog on the head, "No matter. Come with me. Yeh'll catch yer death out, 'ere yeh will, in those clothes with no cloaks and why are yeh barefoot?" He seemed not to want to know right after he asked and turned 'round leading the girls back to his hut on the very edge of the Grounds and the Forest. After exchanging looks, the three girls followed Hagrid. He had them sit on a huge bed covered with a patchwork quilt, and wrap themselves in blankets, then he started making tea.

"I know yeh two, of course." He said to Charlie and Vanessa as he handed a smoking cup to each one. "Yeh're Harry's daughter. Yeh're brothers get into enough trouble," Charlie laughed and secretly agreed. "And yeh must be Oliver an' Ginny's kid. Shame what happened to 'em. Yeh got her eyes." Hagrid gave a broad smile. Then he spoke to Charlie again. "Yeh're dad was a great kid. Tell 'im I says hi when yeh see 'im." Charlie nodded and Hagrid took a minute to study Maddy.

"Madison Malfoy. The only descent Malfoy of the lotto 'em. I knew yer mum, yeh know. Very kind she was. Couldn't believe when she was seeing Malfoy. 'Course she didn't know." Maddy half smiled but didn't look too bothered by him talking about it.

"So" he continued. "What were yeh doin' outside so late?" The three looked between each other and Maddy spoke up.

"We were heading up to our Common Room but my friends' sister's cat got out. We had to go find it, and didn't have time to put shoes or cloaks on cause it happened so fast and we ran after it and it went into the Forest so we looked for it in the edge of the forest. That's when... er... Annubis found us. And just before that the cat ran back to Hogwarts."

Charlie raised a eyebrow and Vanessa gave Maddy a quizzical look. She just smiled. The girl could make up a story better than either of them. But then she had to before they found out about her.

"Well." Hagrid said, looking out the window. "I'd best be gettin yeh back teh yer Common Rooms. It's after hours. C'mon. And no more commin out after hours." With that he led them to Hogwarts and to the Gryffindor Common Room. Thankfully they were unfroze and didn't freeze on the way back.

They all flopped down on a couch when the Fat Lady swung shut.

"God that was weird." Charlie said finally after a minute's silence.

"Oh yeah. Way weird. I don't think we should go down there for a while. Too creepy." Vanessa said. Charlie silently agreed. It took a lot for them to think something wasn't worth going in to explore constantly.

This was one of them.

"Yeah" Charlie finally said "how bout you Maddy?" Maddy agreed in a tired voice. Looking at the clock Charlie couldn't believe her eyes. They'd been gone four hours. It was now one o'clock in the morning. After a minute the three friends stood up.

"Do we tell Alexis, when she gets out day after tomorrow?" Charlie asked. Vanessa shook her head.

"No she don't need to know."

The bed felt like heaven under Charlie's stiff back and she smiled. That night they'd had they're very first real adventure. And they'd came out of it ok. Quietly she closed the book that belonged to Adam and shoved it under her pillows to keep it safe. She'd sneak it back the day before everyone got back, maybe. He wouldn't miss it.

The friends made their way to the Great Hall, in a not so good mood.

Madame Pomfrey wouldn't let them see Alexis cause they could 'catch the flu.' Charlie'd remarked the flu was one of the lesser things she'd ever caught but Madame Pomfrey had remained resilient, and they'd had to leave, anyways; even Maddy's begging wouldn't work. And the kid was good at pleading.

The three girls sat down next to Mike, Lavender, Tasia, Kat and the boy they'd been with the other day sat down across from them.

"Madame Poppy wouldn't let you in?" Kat said, interpreting their frowns. Charlie shook her head and Maddy raised an eyebrow.

"She lets you call her Madame Poppy?" Kat nodded.

"Probably cause she's a Prefect." Mike whispered loud enough so only the three girls, who all had to stifle laughter, could hear. As dessert was appearing on the tables, the doors into the Great Hall opened. All talk ceased, and a very peculiar woman entered; she was very thin, and wore gigantic spectacles that made her eyes look enormous. She walked dreamily over to the Head Table and sat down.

"Who's that?" Charlie asked Kat, who had been staring at the woman and had, unceremoniously, dropped her fork with food on it half way to her mouth.

"Professor Trelawney. Wonder why she's down here. She always claims it clouds her 'inner eye'." She said, shaking her head, looking confused.

"Maybe she wanted to read Dumbledore's hand." Maddy said with a perfectly straight face. Charlie almost choked on her pumpkin juice and doubled over with laughter about the same time as Kat and Tasia did and Vanessa, Mike, Maddy, and Lavender soon followed.

Charlie was about to ask how she could keep a straight face so easy when she noticed the boy again.

"Who's he?" She said to Tasia.

"His names Ryan Jameson. He's in our year from a school in America called Pheonix Academy." The boy smiled, a smile that went to his tawny yellow colored eyes. He pushed a wisp of sandy hair out of his eyes and said hi.

Maddy frowned suddenly and stared up at the Head Table. Charlie and Vanessa frowned as they followed her eyes and saw what she was looking at.

Prof. Trelawney was whispering quickly to Dumbledore, who was frowning deeply. Suddenly him, Sirius, Prof. Trelawney, and Prof. Mc Gonnagal got up and left, Prof. Tamora and Johnny Michlie soon followed. Charlie looked questioningly up at Remus who was frowning. He caught her gaze and shook his head as if to say 'don't ask about it.'

"Wonder what that was all about?" Mike said, confused. Tasia just shook her head; the same bewildered look on her face. Ryan, however, seemed to be thinking deeply.

The kind of thinking Vanessa had been doing before they'd found out about Maddy.

"Ok this is it something is bloody going on and that prat Remus won't tell me!" Charlie whispered furiously to Alexis, Amber -they'd just told the events to them- Vanessa and Maddy, "I mean, Professor Trelawney, who never comes into the Great Hall does and suddenly Professors Tamora, Johnny, Sirius, Dumbledore and Lady Minerva" -a name Charlie'd picked up from Sirius and Remus and started using - "Up and leave, suddenly interested in the Divinations room, when we all know how skeptic they are. Something's going on."

"Well" Maddy said slowly "what ever it is has to be very serious then."

"Exactly! We should know though!" Amber said sighing. Maddy and Vanessa exchanged looks.

Amber and Charlie'd obviously misinterpreted her words.

Alexis was strangely silent.

They were used to Maddy being that quiet, but not Alexis. Ever since she'd came back from the Hospital Wing -a week into the break- she'd been like this, almost like shutting the three out. Although she'd hung around with Lavender for a few days, the twin had about as much of an idea as they did.

None.

Now they were in their third week after school resumed. Still the silent treatment. Charlie was getting worried. So were Amber, Vanessa, Maddy, Mike, and Lavender. But for some reason, Alexis didn't seem to know, or care for that matter. It was weird.

"Well," Amber whispered, "we'll have to find out on our own."

Two days later.

Zilch.

Nothing.

No clue as to what the bloody hell was going on or what was wrong with Alexis. It was all so confusing. Their second half of First Year wasn't supposed to be like this, they were supposed to be having fun; the five of them, pranking Slytherins, teachers, and generally making hell erupt inside Hogwarts.

But it wasn't like that.

The five friends, if they were still five friends, walked outside near Hagrid's hut. That was as far as Charlie was getting to the Forbidden Forest, unless she was made to. In that case, once was enough, which was quite a weird thing when dealing with the friends.

A thud against her back made Charlie stumble and when she turned around a very cold wet something hit her in the face.

A snowball.

After a minute Vanessa, Amber, and Maddy were getting pelted with snowballs as well.

The four girls shared the same, mischievous look and started picking up and hurling snowballs just as fast as they were being dished out. It was an all out snow war between Alex, Mike, Nick, Todd, and the four girls after a minute. Snowballs flew through the air back and forth almost non-stop.

In their happiness of the moment, all was forgotten; the mysterious secret, Alexis' weird behavior, and all things that was troubling them.

None of them noticed Alexis -who had been sitting on the ground with a half hearted smile- wipe her eye on her robe sleeve, get up and walk away.

The eight friends spent a good hour of the Saturday launched in the fight. After it was over, they declared a tie.

And a re-match.

"Its weird, Maddy." Charlie ripped another piece of paper into a strip, balling it up and throwing it into the fire from her corner by the girls' dorm stairs. Maddy was curled up in an armchair, trying to finish a book of hers in a vain attempt.

"What is?" She knew she didn't need to ask, but did anyways.

Vanessa, Amber and Lavender along with Alex, Nick and Aaron, a new Hufflepuff student who liked Lavender, had went to the Yule Ball, Alexis -who was still separating herself from the four girls- Charlie, Mike -who was conducting a kitchen raid- and Maddy hadn't gone.

"This whole thing with Alexis. She keeps ignoring us and giving us the slip ever since she came back from the Hospital Wing. Something's goin on and i can't figure it out. She won't tell me. It's like she doesn't want to be our friend any more. I just wish i knew." Maddy frowned and thought a minute before answering, choosing her words carefully.

"Just give her time. Let her decide if she wants us to be her friend and vice versa. After all we've only been here four months, not four years." This was the best she could figure to say, she could never figure out the fifth girl, her personality was far to difficult to come close to understanding. It was as if the girl was purposefully shutting her mind off from anything.

Neither of them noticed a muffled sob, nor heard footsteps leaving behind them as Alexis left the Gryffindor common room. They were too busy in their own thoughts to notice the secret passage out that the five had found on their second week there slide open then shut.

Alexis held her breath to stop a big sob from getting out as she sped to the Hufflepuff corridor. She had to be alone right then. Hopefully her cousin, Amarus, wasn't there.

Although he was a great help to her, she just needed some alone time.

Charlie, Maddy and Vanessa sat down next to Amber and Adam at breakfast. Kat, Tasia, Nick, Ryan, and Issy sat across from them talking animatedly, next to Tasia (across from Adam) Alexis sat, silently eating. The older friends had given up after many attempts (all in vain) to get her in a conversation.

"What's up?" Charlie asked Amber, as she was there before them.

"New kids, ones from a small wizarding school in Canada called Zaferam. And the other's Dumbledore's great, great, great, great granddaughter. She's from a small school in Scotland, transferred here." Now both Vanessa and Maddy looked interested.

"Dumbledore's great, great, great, great grand daughter?" Charlie asked weakly. She almost choked on the eggs; she hadn't realized Dumbledore was that old.

"She'll be in Gryffindor." Maddy said knowingly.

"How d'you know?" Kat asked as she joined their conversation. Maddy just smiled quizzically.

"Just do."

All talk ended abruptly as two girls walked in. Dumbledore beamed at them. Then he spoke.

"I'd like you to welcome two new students. Both in their first year." He stopped as the Sorting Hat was brought out yet again that year.

"Lady Minerva's" voice had a air of excitement as she called the first girls name.

"Dumbledore, Allistar."

A girl rather small stepped forward, her silver long hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she wore torn muggle jeans and a loose baseball jersey. Her sapphire eyes positively gleamed as she looked around the Great Hall before the Hat fell over her eyes.

"Well, well" the Hat whispered in her ear. She didn't even flinch, "Another Dumbledore eh? It's been a while. But worry not - well you don't seem to worry anyways - I know exactly where to put you."

The Hat shouted Gryffindor.

Allistar all but skipped to the table. She looked about as happy as she could get.

"Hey" she said giving them a questioning look at the seat next to Vanessa and Maddy. They said it was ok and she sat there. She turned to Maddy after they introduced their selves, including Alexis, and smiled knowingly.

"You're a Malfoy? Don't worry. I know you're different. Very different." Charlie and Vanessa thought they saw her wink. Maddy paled slightly and smiled weakly, but said nothing.

Then it was the next girls turn. "Fletcher, Jasline" Jasline wore plain Hogwarts robes. Her curly light brown almost blonde hair was cut short to the middle of her neck with longer tendrils of hair hanging lower than the rest. Her brown eyes were fixed on the Hat as if willing it to do something.

She was Mundungus Fletcher's -the biggest prankster before the Marauders- grandkid.

"Oh yes. Another Fletcher." The Hat whispered to her in a similar manner. She jumped slightly. "A prankster to I see, well then you'll do good in Gryffindor!"

She walked a bit quickly to the Gryffindor table then sat next to Charlie, looking relieved

The following three months were very 'interesting.'

Both Alli -as they called her- btw: its pronounced like the Ali in Muhammad Ali and Jasline were as good of pranksters as they were, and with the Prankster and Marauders Maps, the two invisibility cloaks, all the mischief tools they'd gotten, and a genuine talent of communicating with Peeves, they were invisible.

Almost as good as the Marauders in their days.

It was April; the Easter Ball was coming up and then Easter vacation. Charlie, Maddy, and Alli as well as Mike and Nick weren't going and none of the friends but Adam, Alex, and Alexis were leaving home.

Alexis.

Now there was a interesting topic.

Charlie was sure they were losing her. She'd barely warm back up to them for maybe a hour then leave them five times worse. She just wouldn't be their friend.

Charlie had no clue why.

Now she wasn't even sitting with the Gryffindors. She sat with her older cousin in Hufflepuff and his friends.

She'd even stopped -though gradually- visiting the Shrieking Shack. Now Alli and Jasline, who both knew about Maddy -Alli had figured it out the first full moon. (Though she hadn't said how) and told Jasline about it - took her place, as they were both Anigmagis, Jasline was a palomino horse and Alli was a griffin.

Between the six of them they kept the wolf in check pretty good. Now even better than before.

Charlie trudged into the Great Hall for breakfast. She'd stayed up extra late the night before reading and hadn't realized how late it really was until it was 3 a.m.

Thankfully since the next day was the Easter ball and then Easter vacation, they had the day off, which meant the possibility of sleeping in. Her alarm clock, however, had other ideas. Stupid thing wouldn't stop ringing until she got up. And she still was late to breakfast, but so would the other four be.

Maddy must've already been down there...

As she walked into the Great Hall she froze.

There was that git of a brother of Maddy's and Snape's girl stood there, probably taunting her.

After a second she snapped out of it and started walking quickly over to Maddy. Too bad the older friends weren't there. As Charlie got closer the one sided conversation boomed into her ears as Malfoy's voice.

"Your big, rich friends ain't here now, are they? You're not brave. You're pitiful. A pitiful traitor." Snape's girl smirked at his words and Maddy turned away slowly.

"You don't walk away when we're talking t'you." Snape spat, grabbing Maddy by the lower arm. Maddy let out a yelp of pain and jumped back, tears of pain springing to her eyes, "Pitiful little good for nothing wench." Snape spat -she said something else that made Charlie's blood boil- and looked about ready to punch Maddy, but not while Charlie could stop her.

Charlie was at Maddy's side in a minute. Five burns were starting on her arm, she realized as she looked up the Snape git wore silver rings on each finger to show off her wealth. Then she became aware that not only were Vanessa, Amber, and Alli next to her, looking rather ticked, but the boys were there too.

"Go to hell. Leave my friend alone." Charlie's voice was next to a growl. Snape was about to retort but Malfoy pointed at the seven behind the two girls and whispered some thing and the two Slytherins turned and retreated to the safety of their table.

"Chickens" Charlie heard Amber mutter and smiled. The four boys cast a confused look at Maddy, clutching her arm and biting her lip.

That has to hurt like hell. Charlie thought looking concerned at her friend, who just smiled sadly.

"Are you ok?" Vanessa asked, snapping Charlie from her thoughts.

"It's ok. I'm fine." But Charlie saw the traces of a tear on her face and how she was clutching her arm. But after seeing the determined look in Maddy's eyes, she decided not to say anything more.

Another rare moment.

Alexis had vaguely warmed up to them a bit. She had sat at the Gryffindor table, by the older friends at breakfast. Her face was now pale, as it had been getting lighter since she'd isolated herself and her eyes now held a bit of loneliness that never used to be there at all when she was with the four girls.

They now walked past the Whomping Willow -Sirius had said he carved his name in it once. Charlie wasn't going near enough to test his story's veracity without animal form- Vanessa was in the lead as usual, then Charlie Maddy, Amber, Alli and Jasline. Alexis brought up the back, a bit away from them.

Charlie watched the giant Squid's shape break the horizon and wave its tentacles lazily. As she watched a resolve formed in her. She had to find out what was with Alexis. They hadn't pressed her or anything in hopes to regain the once shared friendship, but there was no more waiting.

She simply had to find out what was with their friend.

She fell back to the side of the girl, "Alexis" she whispered fiercely, "We've gotta talk later, ok?" Whether Alexis consented or not, Charlie never would find out.

Charlie and Alexis swerved out of the way to avoid a slender cloaked figure, in turn, both falling down.

"Sorry!" they both said immediately as the other five girls turned to them.

"Alexis?" said a voice from beneath the cloak. Two hands reached up and threw back the hood, revealing a young woman with sparkling, brown eyes.

"Mum?" Alexis cried in shock, "What?" The woman held a finger to her lips.

"I had to speak to Dumbledore about something..." Her voice trailed off and she looked around, then her eyes widened and her words hastened, "I've got to go now. Whatever you do, please, be careful. I love you." With that, she hurried down the corridor and away from the seven girls, who shot puzzled looks at each other.

"What was that all about?" Charlie asked, confused. Alexis looked as confused as she did.

"I dunno. Weird." She said slowly.

They didn't notice the black-cloaked figure quickly disappearing into the Forest.

The next day they were in the Entrance Hall.

All seven girls, that is.

If the events of the previous day hadn't been weighing on their minds, it would be comfortable for them all to be reunited again. Charlie hadn't spoke to Alexis, she'd let it wait until later, for this was not the time.

They were all seated on the floor, as there was nothing really to do right then, and Charlie took the time to process everything.

There was something strange about what had happened the day before. Alexis' mum had seen something, something bad enough to put fear into her eyes.

Everything had been going weird since that day they'd seen Trelawney come down to the Great Hall.

She just wished she knew what.

They all looked up as one of the large doors opened. A man in a black cloak walked in, his blue eyes filled with concern. Alexis looked up, her countenance turning even more confused.

"Dad?" She said blankly but he frowned and silenced her.

"Alexis. I need to speak with Dumbledore, it's imperative." Alexis' eyes widened.

"Why?" Her voice had an edge of panic to it that hadn't previously been there and his frown deepened, as if he didn't really want to say.

"It's your mum. She didn't come home last night."


End file.
